Vir Das doesn’t worry about fitting in. He was born in India, grew up in Nigeria, went to school in America, lived and worked in Europe, and now lives back in his country of origin. Vir talks with Marc about wanting his comedy and acting to appeal to a global community, a goal that was met with some resistance in 2021 when he performed a monologue called “Two Indias” in Washington, DC. They talk about the fallout from that performance, the right wing push in India, and Vir’s experience in Bollywood films.

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Amy Sherman-Palladino says working on a TV show takes over your whole life. This is why Amy went from being a hired gun on sitcoms that made her miserable to her own creatively fulfilling shows like Gilmore Girls, Bunheads and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Amy and Marc talk about her father’s comedy background, her early job at The Comedy Store, the lessons she learned from Roseanne, and the adjustments made when she found out this would be the final season of Mrs. Maisel.

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Smokey Robinson just released his 26th studio album, but he’s been writing songs since the age of six. Smokey talks with Marc about his lifelong friendships with Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross and Berry Gordy, the formation of The Miracles, the rise of Motown Records, the process of writing songs for other artists, creating The Tears of a Clown with Stevie Wonder, the brilliance of Marvin Gaye, and the five year period Smokey felt his life was out of control.

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For Warren Zanes, music has been a salvation. In his troubled teen years, his brother put him in the band The Del Fuegos. Then music was the conduit to his PhD. And now, after a lifetime of seeing himself as just another guy without a father, Warren’s music biographies have helped him feel at home with other lost people. Warren and Marc talk about explaining life through music, writing about Tom Petty, and Warren’s new book Deliver Me from Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska.

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Paul Schrader’s upbringing was steeped in the contradictions of religion, which helped him explore the contradictory characters in his screenplays, like Travis Bickle, Jake LaMotta and the protagonists of his recent films, First Reformed, The Card Counter and Master Gardener. Paul talks with Marc about his early career as a film critic, his rejection of Hollywood filmmaking, his experience directing Richard Pryor, and the sibling dynamic he brought to Raging Bull.

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Ice Cube never stopped thinking about making music, from the moment he started writing raps in typewriting class to sitting in his recording studio today making a new album. But he never expected his life to take a parallel track when John Singleton sought him out for Boyz N The Hood. Cube and Marc talk about how his two successful careers took shape and how he’s now branching out into a third with his sports league Big3.

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Rachel Weisz and her collaborators totally knocked Marc for a loop with the new series Dead Ringers, a show that’s still haunting him long after he watched it. Rachel and Marc talk about her dual performance as twin doctors, as well as her work with Yorgos Lanthimos, how Denis Leary was an influence on her as a young performer, and her time at Cambridge. They also compare notes on their shared love of Lou Reed and cats.

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When comedian Shane Mauss was on the show in 2016, he and Marc talked about the new trajectory in his life that involved psychedelic studies. A year later, he lost his mind doing lots of hands-on experiments in that field of study. As Shane gets his standup act back on its feet, he tells Marc about the Roger Waters concert that landed him in a psych ward, the ways people get mentally exploited by motivational hucksters, and how he’s trying to strike a balance between opening his mind and letting his brain fall out.

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Tituss Burgess was in the movie Respect alongside Marc, playing gospel singer James Cleveland. But it was Tituss’s own original gospel recordings that provided Marc with a fuller understanding of the Real Tituss. Tituss talks with Marc about finally being seen as the Real Tituss, thanks to his work in season two of Schmigadoon! and his writing of the new musical The Preacher’s Wife. They also talk about faith, self-acceptance, forgiveness and seeing the light.

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Both David Mandel and Marc were obsessed with the early years of Saturday Night Live, in large part because of a book they both had. It was the 1977 SNL Script Book and it actually set David on a path to become a writer for that very show. David tells Marc about his “wonderful and awful” time there, followed by genre-defining work on Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Veep and the new limited series White House Plumbers. 

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J. Smith-Cameron gets just as surprised while watching Succession as you do. With all the footage they shoot, she’s never sure exactly how any given episode is going to turn out, as she waits to see what will or won’t make the cut. Jean and Marc get into all the details about the show, like how Gerri was supposed to be a man, what her husband Kenneth Lonergan thinks of it, and how her New York theater background meshes nicely with a cast full of stage actors.

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As the daughter of Jill Clayburgh and playwright David Rabe, Lily Rabe felt a lot of pressure not to become an actor, believing she had to stake out her own artistic ground. But while dance was her passion, her acting talents were undeniable. Lily tells Marc what it was like to get her big break doing Shakespeare with Al Pacino at the same time her family was dealing with personal tragedy. They also talk about her recent string of miniseries, including The Undoing, The Underground Railroad, and Love & Death.

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From February 2013, Marc talks with comedian Darryl Lenox about the struggles he faced throughout his life and how he overcame the challenges in front of him. Darryl died on April 16, 2023.

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The last time Ray Romano was on the podcast, he was making the show Men of a Certain Age. Now Ray and Marc are both men of a certain age with a lot of the same concerns about their health and well-being at this point in their lives. They also followed a similar trajectory from standup comedy to dramatic acting and they’re now competing with each other for the same type of roles. They talk about taking risks, Robert DeNiro, and Somewhere in Queens, the new movie Ray co-wrote, directed and stars in.

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It's a series of firsts for Alex Borstein: The release of her first comedy special, her first podcast interview done during a power outage, and her first time meeting Marc, despite co-starring with him in The Bad Guys. Alex and Marc talk about Chicago, pizza, therapists, X-rated chocolates, Family Guy, Gilmore Girls, and the high-wire balancing act of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel as it begins its fifth and final season.

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Three episodes into the Netflix series Beef, Steven Yeun's character is emotionally overwhelmed in a Korean church. As the former leader of a praise band and the son of devout immigrant parents, it isn't surprising Steven was able to hit the right note. Steven and Marc talk about his upbringing in Michigan, his time in Chicago doing Second City improv, his encounters with cultural gatekeeping, his liberating role on The Walking Dead, his Oscar nomination for Minari and much more.

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Kelly Reichardt’s latest movie Showing Up is about the life of artists, but Kelly had no experience with art while growing up in a Miami law enforcement family other than crime scene photos. Kelly talks to Marc about the moment that opened her eyes to artistic expression and how a lonely night in Boston watching the snow fall convinced her to start making movies. They also go through all her films and gush over Altman’s McCabe and Mrs. Miller. 

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Brooke Shields is able to look back critically on the toxic culture and misogynistic power structure that pervaded her early career while remaining grateful for the life she lived and the person she became. Marc talks with Brooke about her journey from modeling to acting to motherhood, as explored in the new documentary Pretty Baby. They also delve into the complicated relationship Brooke had with her own mother and what Brooke is hoping to impart to her own teen daughters today.

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Cathy Ladman just made her tenth appearance on The Tonight Show, a milestone in a career that started back when Johnny Carson was the host. But something she dealt with throughout that career was an ongoing battle with an eating disorder. Cathy tells Marc how she avoided talking about it in her comedy until now, with a new stage show that centers on her fight with anorexia. They also talk about growing up in a bowling alley, her sitcom writing, and her first serious boyfriend, Jerry Seinfeld.

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Karina Longworth grew up in Los Angeles and was fascinated by the haunted memories of Old Hollywood. Later in life, her writing and research led her to creating the podcast that explores these forgotten stories, You Must Remember This. Karina and Marc talk about Kenneth Anger’s Hollywood Babylon, what the history of show business reveals about our current moment, and what exactly is the state of the broader cultural conversation these days.

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Nick Youssef found himself on the receiving end of anti-Arab hate when he took the standup stage shortly after 9/11, right at the start of his comedy career. It was that moment when Nick knew he was never going to let anyone get the better of him on the comedy stage ever again. Marc talks with Nick about how the shy son of Lebanese immigrants became a battle-hardened comic who just produced and released his first comedy special.

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Laurie Anderson says she never made art to express herself, she didn’t care about having a “style,” and she sure didn’t think about building a “brand.” Laurie and Marc talk about her time in New York City as part of a booming art scene, her days hanging with Andy Kaufman, and her many musical collaborations. They also discuss Laurie’s role as the steward of Lou Reed’s legacy, including the new book she helped edit of Lou’s writing on Tai Chi.

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First up in this two-for-one episode, Marc talks with comedian Ashely Barnhill, who used to work for WTF while she was building her comedy career. Suddenly, a tragic accident had her fighting for her life. They talk about Ashley’s road back. Next, director Jason Woliner returns to talk about his 10-year-long project, Paul T. Goldman. Marc tries to find out what Jason was getting at with this reality-bending series and whether there were any lasting repercussions.

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O’Shea Jackson Jr. grew up around music with Ice Cube as a father. But it was a school teacher who set his mind toward making movies. O’Shea and Marc talk about the idea of Ice Cube versus the reality of Ice Cube as a dad and now as a grandfather. They also talk about the two-year process he went through to win the part in Straight Outta Compton, the Twitter coincidence with Aubrey Plaza that opened acting doors for him, and what it felt like to tell Obi-Wan Kenobi that his next job was Cocaine Bear.

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A special compilation of this year's Oscar nominees talking about their nominated works. Hear excerpts from Marc's interviews with Michelle Yeoh, Daniels, Brendan Fraser, Hong Chau, Austin Butler, Andrea Riseborough, Sarah Polley, Todd Field, Rian Johnson, Judd Hirsch and Tony Kushner.

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Bobby Farrelly knows he was lucky to grow up in small town Rhode Island, which was, in his words, marinating in characters. Bobby and his brother Peter were able to take those real life characters and put them into screenplays that became some of the biggest comedy films of all time. Bobby and Marc talk about the origins of Dumb and Dumber, Kingpin, There’s Something About Mary and more, as well as Bobby’s new movie with Woody Harrelson, Champions. 

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Ronny Chieng has been in America for less than a decade and he’s cementing himself as a prolific force in comedy. With two Netflix specials, a regular spot on The Daily Show, and multiple roles in high profile films already under his belt, Ronny is living a comedian’s dream. He tells Marc how he went from law school in Australia to doing regular comedy work and how a festival encounter with Trevor Noah changed everything.

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Hong Chau owes her acting career to social anxiety and a fear of performing in public. It was the desire to overcome those obstacles that led her to improv and acting classes. Hong and Marc talk about the dangerous journey her family undertook to get from Vietnam to America, her upbringing in New Orleans, the controversy around her performance in Downsizing, and her Oscar nominated performance in The Whale.

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Austin Butler devoted the past four years of his life to Elvis, the last year of which has been spent promoting and talking about Elvis. So it’s a little bit of a break for him to talk with Marc about his cowboy heritage, being a shy kid, becoming a regular of Nickelodeon and Disney Channel shows, finding his calling on the stage, learning from Denzel Washington, and cracking up at Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio on the set of Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood. And yeah, they talk about the Elvis accent, too.

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Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert share a first name, a passion for filmmaking and now awards for Best Director. But the duo known as Daniels have backgrounds that are as divergent as the multiverse they invented for Everything Everywhere All At Once. They talk to Marc about their distinctions, such as growing up with undiagnosed ADHD versus being an academic overachiever, one being influenced by Rian Johnson's Brick, the other an acolyte of Tim & Eric, and various embarrassing moments of their youth that helped define their work.

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Michelle Yeoh travels through the multiverse in Everything Everywhere All At Once. But when she was growing up in Malaysia, there was a universe where she continued her dance training and opened her own dance school. That all came to an end with an injury but it opened the door to another universe where she became a martial arts film star. Michelle and Marc talk about Yes, Madam!, Police Story 3: Supercop, Jackie Chan, James Bond, Crazy Rich Asians, Quentin Tarantino, and more.

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Tim Blake Nelson always impresses Marc with his acting and, since the last time he was on the show, he’s made more stuff Marc loved, like Old Henry and Nightmare Alley. But now Tim has also impressed Marc as a novelist. His first novel, City of Blows, is in the tradition of classic Hollywood fiction. Tim tells Marc how his own experiences as an actor fed the book’s morality tale and how he found inspiration in the old stories of Hollywood past.

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Most people know Marc Summers as the host of Double Dare on Nickelodeon and Unwrapped on Food Network. But his background makes him an ideal WTF guest. A Jewish kid from the Midwest who wanted to get into show business, Marc tried his hand at being a DJ, a magician, a comic, and eventually became a regular at The Comedy Store. Once Marc found success, he had to overcome numerous personal setbacks and health challenges. Marc and Marc talk about it all, including his new podcast Marc Summers Unwraps.

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As documented in the Wrestling With Marc series on The Full Maron, Marc undergoes a full immersion into the world of professional wrestling when his producer Brendan suggests Marc explore something totally new to him. With help from All Elite Wrestling, Marc learns the ropes and everything in between. Featuring talks with wrestling legend Chris Jericho (9:20), AEW owner Tony Khan (59:40), returning WTF guest Colt Cabana (1:33:30), referee Bryce Remsberg (1:37:35), AEW World Champion Maxwell Jacob Friedman (1:45:40), and the Mad King Eddie Kingston (2:01:25).

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Wayne Brady is making himself happy again when he’s performing. He makes other people happy hosting Let’s Make a Deal and being part of Whose Line Is It Anyway?, but only in recent years does Wayne feel like he’s combatting his depression and anxiety in a way that lets him enjoy his job. Wayne and Marc talk about the roots of those issues, as well as his early life in Orlando, playing Goofy and Tigger at Disney World, and that Chappelle’s Show sketch.

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Dave Franco is a successful actor but that doesn’t mean he was full of confidence when he began directing his first feature. Dave tells Marc how he overcame the fear of the unknown once he stepped on set to call action for the first time. They also talk about how the timing of the pandemic worked out for the release of that film, The Rental, and how his latest film, Somebody I Used to Know, started as a script he wrote with his wife, Alison Brie, during quarantine.

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Radhika Jones just celebrated her fifth year as Editor-in-Chief of Vanity Fair and, as far as Marc is concerned, she plays a major role on the front lines of the American culture war. Radhika tells Marc why she remains optimistic about our current cultural moment, why print is not yet dead, and how a magazine like Vanity Fair can modernize and evolve in order to better represent our current times.

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Brendan Fraser is receiving awards and accolades for his performance in The Whale but his reasons for taking on the role go much deeper than wanting to earn well-deserved praise. Brendan and Marc talk about the many layers of pain, trauma and redemption that went into creating the performance, much of which was informed by experiences throughout Brendan’s own life. They also compare notes on their shared love of Canada.

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Sarah Polley has a lot to say about memory, narratives and the stories we tell. That’s because she believes they’re all fluid, which creates a sort of moving target for a writer and director of films, as she is. Sarah and Marc talk about how this is represented in Sarah’s movies like Away from Her and her latest, Women Talking, and why she made a documentary about a particularly fraught and deceptive narrative from her own family.

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Octavia Spencer’s career started behind the scenes, as she worked in casting departments on film sets. Director Joel Schumacher said she should read for the role of Sandra Bullock’s nurse in A Time To Kill and set her on a path that would eventually culminate fifteen years later with an Academy Award. Octavia and Marc talk about how she’s had to resist typecasting, how she conquered stage fright, and how her childhood love of police procedurals is now her life, as she kicks off the third season of the crime drama Truth Be Told.

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Todd Field toyed with many pursuits before he ever directed a film. First there was close-up magic. Then he went to school on a music scholarship. He also hoped to become a baseball player, working as a batboy for a minor league team. He helped invent Big League Chew. Then he became an actor and worked with Stanley Kubrick and Tom Cruise, who both offered Todd support as he made his first movie. Todd and Marc talk about the decisions that led him to each of his three films: In the Bedroom, Little Children, and Tár.

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Andrea Riseborough can't lie. She's terrible at it. But she believes that trait helps her as an actor because there's no hiding her emotions. Marc can attest to this, having acted opposite Andrea in To Leslie, but she's been at it since she was nine years old doing David Mamet plays with other kids. Marc and Andrea talk about her background in theater, how Mike Leigh gave her a charmed entry into film, and how she's personally confronting the current challenges of film creation and distribution.

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Katt Williams is a one-of-a-kind comic performer, so it’s only natural he should have a one-of-a-kind backstory. Katt tells Marc about his travels as a teenager, trying to make it on his own in Florida, then in Haiti, then around the country in all 50 states as a door to door salesman. Katt recalls the days he was opening for comedians like Jeff Foxworthy and Dan Whitney, before he became Larry the Cable Guy, and he talks about some of his surprising inspirations, from Jack London to Don Knotts.

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Colin Hanks knows there are public perceptions of him that are tricky to navigate. For one, the man known as America’s Dad is his actual dad. There’s also the fact that people have a hard time seeing him in roles other than The Nice Guy. And then there’s the way people still think of him as a young man even as he enters middle age with children of his own. Colin and Marc talk about the mindset he’s had to put in place to feel at ease with himself, much of which he had to absorb as he processed the loss of his mother.

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Ben Foster was 14 years old and when he had what he calls a breakdown. Ben had a moment while acting where he completely lost himself and he needed to get back to that place at all costs. Marc talks with Ben about how he chased that feeling from the set of a Disney Channel sitcom into dramatic work in movies like Hell or High Water and Kill Your Darlings, where his commitment to the role is never in question. They also get into his two most recent performances in The Survivor and Emancipation, where he felt a deep responsibility in depicting both the victim and perpetrator of human atrocities.

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Guitarist and singer-songwriter Eric McFadden is a blast from Marc's past. They knew each other when they were teenagers growing up in Albuquerque, fostering their creative passions in art studios, record stores and guitar shops around town. After coming in brief contact with each other throughout the years, Eric and Marc finally sit down in the garage to talk about what happened when Eric left New Mexico, how he wound up working with George Clinton, Bernie Worrell, Eric Burdon from The Animals and others, as well as launching his own solo career. 

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Courtney Love is finishing up her first record in more than a decade while she lives in London, perhaps permanently. Courtney fled LA because, as she tells Marc, she needed to get out of the “overculture.” It’s one of many realizations Courtney came upon in recent years, after a lifetime of ups and downs, peace and chaos, fame and infamy. Courtney takes Marc along for the journey as they sip tea in a London hotel.

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Writer-director Scott Cooper says the best thing to came out of his acting career was the friendship he struck up with Robert Duvall. At Robert’s suggestion, Scott started writing his own films, including one he sent to Jeff Bridges. And because Jeff Bridges agreed to make the film, Scott began his career as a director. Scott and Marc talk about that film, Crazy Heart, as well as Out of the Furnace, Black Mass, Hostiles, Antlers, and Scott’s latest mystery film about Edgar Allan Poe, The Pale Blue Eye.

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Rian Johnson revived the mystery genre with his movie Knives Out and now he’s seeing what other places he can take it, both with the sequel Glass Onion and his new detective series Poker Face. But that’s the kind of filmmaker Rian is. As he tells Marc, Rian enjoys hopping genres, whether it’s a noir takeoff like Brick, a time travel riff like Looper, or the metatextual Star Wars mythology he explored in The Last Jedi. They also talk about Rian’s direction of two classic Breaking Bad episodes.

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James Austin Johnson figured out at a very young age that he could do impressions. When he got older and started doing comedy, he wanted to figure out a way to do them that didn’t feel like a Las Vegas lounge act. Now, as the preeminent Trump mimic and SNL’s resident impressionist, James tells Marc how he figured out how to hone in on the people he was imitating and how Covid isolation led to his Trump breakthrough. They also talk about James’s early years as a child actor in conservative Christian media productions.

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Comedian Tommy Tiernan knows a fellow traveler when he sees one. Ever since he saw Marc perform, he recognized a kinship, which is something Marc notices himself when he’s in Tommy’s home country of Ireland. Tommy and Marc talk about the shared outlook of Irish and Jewish comedians, as well as why they both feel like they’re hooked on doing standup at this point in their lives, why they’re both no good at having fun, and why Bob Dylan remains such an inspiration to Tommy.

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Elvis Mitchell waited his entire life to make the new documentary Is That Black Enough For You?!? As a film critic, professor, chronicler of the entertainment business on his show The Treatment and, most importantly, a lifelong movie fan, everything prepared Elvis to write and direct an examination of Black Cinema, particularly the revolutionary films and artists from the 1970s. Elvis takes Marc through the entire journey, with plenty of stops along the way to talk about their favorite movies and performers.

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It’s the holidays, which means Clea DuVall’s movie the Happiest Season is once again part of a new tradition for people everywhere. That’s still taking time to sink in for Clea because it’s a film she wrote and directed that deals with a personal struggle she didn’t even make public until a few years ago. Clea talks with Marc about how she dealt with coming out in her personal life but staying closeted in her professional life. They also talk about her new series High School, based on the memoir of Tegan and Sara.

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Filmmaker James Gray had crisis of confidence after watching a rough cut of his first movie, Little Odessa. Now that he’s made his most personal film yet, Armageddon Time, James and Marc talk about what it took to rebuild his confidence over 25 years, survive fights with Harvey Weinstein, and brave a film shoot in the Amazon that almost killed him. They also talk about Ad Astra, The Beatles, The Stones, Jaws, Apocalypse Now, and Fred Trump.

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Rob Delaney says the last time he was on the show, he didn’t have two coins to rub together. After that, he started a family, moved to London, created the hit show Catastrophe and saw his career take off. Then unfathomable tragedy struck with the illness and death of his youngest son. Rob talks with Marc about picking up the pieces and putting his thoughts into a new memoir, A Heart That Works. Also, Marc spends some time with his friend Sam Lipsyte to talk about Sam’s new novel, No One Left To Come Looking For You.

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Live from The Bloomsbury Theatre in London, Marc welcomes comedian and writer David Baddiel to the stage. In light of David’s new book and accompanying documentary, Jews Don’t Count, Marc and David talk about what it’s like to make sure they’re both publicly counted as notable Jewish entertainers. They discuss the recent rise in antisemitism, the ways in which it gets overlooked in the culture and what can be done about it. Marc and David also make sure to spend some time on English breakfasts, Catholicism, and being cat guys.

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Writer-director Robert Siegel wanted to explore a career in either comedy or journalism. It turns out he got to do both as Editor-in-Chief of The Onion. But while The Onion was mostly comedy tinged with tragedy, Robert tells Marc how he wanted to flip that dynamic once he started writing screenplays. They talk about how the stories he told in The Wrestler, Big Fan, The Founder, Pam and Tommy, and now Welcome to Chippendales all begin with a very specific type of great American tragic hero.

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When Marc reads the works of author and screenwriter Bruce Wagner, he starts to question reality. Bruce’s depictions of Hollywood personalities and show business darkness cut close to the bone and leave Marc trying to make sense of the life he chose. Bruce and Marc talk about where it all comes from, starting with his upbringing in the heart of Old Hollywood. Bruce also explains why being a victim of identity theft helped him write his new novel, ROAR, and why he decided to release his previous book, The Marvel Universe, into the public domain.

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American Beauty completely changed Wes Bentley’s life and is still doing so today, considering he got his current role in Yellowstone because of his performance as Ricky Fitts. But the sudden exposure to fame started Wes down a path of drug addiction that nearly ended his career and could have ended his life. Wes tells Marc about growing up in Arkansas as the son of two ministers, turning down Spider-Man, bottoming out in Argentina, cleaning up and getting a second chance.

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From November 2012, Marc talks with Budd Friedman, the man behind the comedy club boom in America. Budd died on November 12, 2022 at the age of 90.

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Marc revisits his 2011 interview with comedian Gallagher, recorded in Portland, Oregon on January 27, 2011. Their conversation about comedy, language and cultural tolerance led to Gallagher walking out on the interview, the first and only time that happened on WTF. Leo Gallagher died on November 11, 2022.

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Quinta Brunson didn’t pave the traditional path to a hit network sitcom. In fact, she paved a path that didn’t really exist. Quinta and Marc talk about how she was one of the first people on Instagram to hit it big with the comedy she was making on there, which led to jobs at BuzzFeed and YouTube, acting gigs, and ultimately the chance to create Abbott Elementary. They also talk about her upbringing as a Jehovah’s Witness, the job she had to give up because of Covid, and why it’s so important to get the look of Abbott Elementary right.

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Elizabeth Banks says she’s the kind of person who likes to get ‘A’s on tests. And in show business, directing feature films for Hollywood studios is the ultimate test. Elizabeth and Marc talk about how her imposter syndrome faded over the past few years and how Elizabeth feels like she’s acing the test as she finishes up her third film as director. They also talk about the uncomfortable timeliness of her new movie, Call Jane, and why she jumped at the chance to host the game show Press Your Luck.

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Chris Redd knows what it’s like to have dreams and then watch them shift in the face of reality. It happened first with the dream of being a rapper, but then Chris realized he had a knack for this comedy thing. Now, as he departs SNL and releases his first HBO standup special, Chris and Marc talk about how your dreams further shift once you’ve had some success in life. Chris also tells Marc how he overcame his stutter, how he turned a corner in his struggle with anxiety, and how he’s adjusting to having money after growing up without any.

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Veep creator Armando Iannucci knows his job as a purveyor of political satire becomes more difficult as politicians become more absurd and cartoonish. In fact, just hours before recording this episode, the Prime Minister of the U.K. resigned after a tumultuous six weeks on the job. Armando and Marc talk about the unfolding news and also get into Armando’s career in comedy, including his early radio work, creating Alan Partridge, taking on U.S. politics, The Death of Stalin, and his latest show Avenue 5.

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Ron Carter is one of the architects of modern jazz. The Guinness Book of World Records cites him as the most recorded bassist in history and his influence has stretched well beyond jazz to a host of musical genres and styles. Marc talks with Ron about the dichotomies of his career, being a session musician and a band leader, a teacher and an eternal student, a maestro in concert halls and a regular in nightclubs. Ron explains how his output is all part of a responsibility he accepted long ago, one that continues today as he carries the flag of jazz throughout the world.

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Jeremy Strong can’t help being honest. His honesty around his job as an actor is what leads to magazine profiles where he’s portrayed as “intense” and “serious.” His honesty also allows him to admit that he was afraid to do this interview. Marc embraces both that honesty and that fear in this conversation with Jeremy about acting, Succession, finding joy, being an empty vessel, being in service to others, Daniel Day-Lewis, Al Pacino and the new film Armageddon Time.

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Henry Louis Gates, Jr. believes we must understand who we were in order to understand who we are. That goes for individuals, which is at the core of his PBS series Finding Your Roots, as well as society, which is the reason he made the new documentary series Making Black America. Marc talks with Professor Gates about the foundation of America, the progress that’s been made, and the inequality that remains, as well as the professor’s own unique upbringing that informs a lot of his thinking.

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Everyone knows Ralph Macchio as Daniel LaRusso from The Karate Kid. In fact, so many people know him as Daniel LaRusso, he wrote a book about spending his life as that character. Ralph and Marc talk about his memoir Waxing On: The Karate Kid and Me, and delve into his life before the headband, as he worked with Francis Ford Coppola on The Outsiders, acted opposite Robert De Niro on stage, and tried to make sense of everything when superstardom hit. They also get into the protectiveness Ralph felt about the franchise when he was approached with the idea to revisit the character for Cobra Kai.

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Béla Fleck is more than a virtuoso banjo player. He’s also a banjo missionary, an evangelist for an instrument he feels is often misunderstood and pigeonholed. Béla talks with Marc about how he wanted to move banjo music away from negative stereotypes and open audiences up to its world music roots, its classical applications, and of course its bluegrass heart. Also, Marc talks with director Michael Morris about the new movie To Leslie starring Andrea Riseborough and, oh yeah, Marc Maron.

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Zahn McClarnon’s early experiences with reservation life helped him add some personal touches as a cast member of Reservation Dogs. But it was actually his experience with the musical Jesus Christ Superstar that got him into acting in the first place. Zahn and Marc talk about their shared love of working with Sterlin Harjo on Reservation Dogs and why it’s a history-making show. They also talk about Zahn’s struggles with drugs earlier in his life and how he actually used psychedelics to help kick heroin.

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Jann Wenner’s life as the co-founder and publisher of Rolling Stone Magazine has been chronicled in other books, but Jann says he needed to write a memoir to declare what his generation actually stood for. Jann and Marc talk about the importance of San Francisco as the birthplace of not only the magazine but of ’60s culture in general. Jann explains why the Altamont Free Concert was a turning point for Rolling Stone, what happened in the cocaine-fueled days when the magazine moved to New York, and how close Almost Famous was to reality.

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Writer-director Tony Gilroy is the man behind one of Marc’s favorite movies of all time, Michael Clayton. They get into everything it took to get that movie made and its surprising legacy. But the rest of Tony’s career and the curvy path his life took to get there are equally fascinating. Tony tells Marc about his dogged attempt to start a music career, how he transitioned into screenwriting, the joys of writing for the Devil, and how he came to embrace Star Wars with his new series Andor. 

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Abigail Disney feels the burden of her last name, particularly due to the practices of the global company that was founded by her grandfather Roy and grand uncle Walt. Marc talks with Abigail about her social awakening earlier in life and her current roles as an activist, philanthropist and filmmaker. They also discuss her new documentary, The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales, about the unequal economy as exemplified by the corporation that bears her name.

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Multiple generations of audiences love Sigourney Weaver, whether it’s because of Ghostbusters or Avatar or Working Girl or the Alien franchise or all of the above. But Sigourney tells Marc she never imagined having a film career and in fact resisted it for a long time, preferring instead to work primarily in theater. And now, with movies like The Good House, Call Jane, Master Gardener and the Avatar sequel all releasing in theaters this Fall, Sigourney talks about how she’s never felt more comfortable working in film than she does now.

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Sam Rockwell and Marc have talked with each other a lot since Sam was last on the show. Granted, during a lot of those conversations they were pretending to be a wolf and a snake, respectively. The Bad Guys co-stars embrace their human sides for this talk where they go over Sam’s journey to his Oscar win, the broadway production of American Buffalo with Sam and Laurence Fishburne, and the accent work Sam had to do for his new movie See How They Run.

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Adrian Belew’s career in music was influenced by many and has influenced many more. As a completely self-taught guitarist, Adrian absorbed as much music as possible on the way to establishing his own sound and style. After getting his big break with Frank Zappa, Adrian went on to collaborate with David Bowie, Talking Heads, and Nine Inch Nails, just to name a few, and recorded 25 solo albums. Marc talks with Adrian about his amazingly prolific career, including his time with Robert Fripp and King Crimson.

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Since the last time he was on WTF, Bradley Whitford spent a lot of time listening to the show while taking walks. So he’s primed and ready to take his ongoing one-sided conversation with Marc back to the garage and turn it into a dialogue. Bradley and Marc talk about aging, Quakerism, having grown children, their changing perceptions about acting, and Gene Hackman. Also, as the fifth season of The Handmaid’s Tale gets underway, they confront the ongoing threats to democracy that make the show’s narrative too close to reality.

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Documentary filmmaker Brett Morgen likes to go into the deep end with his films. He never wants to repeat himself, or repeat any other docs for that matter. He wants his films to be an experiential, subjective expression, not a declaration of truth. All of this makes Brett an ideal director to tackle a subject like David Bowie, which he does in his new film Moonage Daydream. Brett and Marc discuss his work on other docs about Robert Evans, Kurt Cobain, Jane Goodall and O.J. Simpson, and Brett details the near-death experience that made him see the Bowie project differently.

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Singer-songwriter Sharon Van Etten creates personal, deeply felt songs that also provide her with relief. Sharon talks with Marc about her stream of consciousness writing style and how it helps her process the difficult parts of her life. They also get into how Sharon’s new album emerged from pandemic isolation, how hard it was to tour in the Era of Covid, how her friendship with collaborator Angel Olsen got started, and why she continues to study psychology in the pursuit of a degree. 

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Al Ruddy's life as a producer taught him one major lesson: The making of every movie is itself worthy of a movie. That's why there's a limited series called The Offer about Al's experiences making The Godfather. Al tells Marc about the colorful encounters from his decades-long career in show business, including his work with Robert Mitchum, Burt Reynolds, Robert Evans, Marlon Brando and Clint Eastwood. Al also explains why he decided to make The Longest Yard instead of The Godfather Part II and he goes into the details behind one of his most embarrassing productions, the boxing kangaroo movie Matilda.

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Whitney Cummings left the garage twelve years ago after a conversation with Marc and couldn’t shake something he said to her. It bothered her for years until she finally decided to own it and turn it into the name of her new standup special. Whitney and Marc hash out what happened during that initial WTF episode and get into all the things that have transpired since, including where they’re both at with their lives and comedy today. They also talk about horses, codependency, crying and TikTok. 

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Simu Liu is now an entrenched member of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, thanks to his portrayal of superhero Shang Chi. But Simu has his own origin story worthy of a comic book arc. Simu tells Marc how he left China at four years old and was raised by studious parents in Canada.. Only after losing his accounting job did Simu begin a secret life as an actor, an identity he kept hidden from his family until he could no longer fly under the radar. They also talk about Simu’s breakthrough in Kim’s Convenience, improving the representation of Asians in North American media, and the responsibility of being an Asian American superhero.

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Singer-songwriter S.G. Goodman creates songs about complex people and conflicting ideas. She sings about complications that are close to her heart because she has lived them. Raised on a farm in rural Western Kentucky, growing up with a strong Christian background, reconciling the basis of her faith with her emerging understanding of philosophy, S.G. has plenty of stories she can tell through song. Marc talks with S.G. about farm life, being traumatized by corn, her OCD diagnosis, and her pandemic pen pal, Paul Schrader.

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Andrew Garfield was terrified of being Spider-Man. As a 27-year-old who was not yet known to the world, he knew his life would immediately change once he became that beloved character. Andrew tells Marc what he did to protect himself at that time, which included going back to his theater roots and heading to Broadway. Andrew also talks about life since his mother's death, why he considers Ryan Gosling to be one of his inspirations, and why he's been on a spiritual journey with recent projects, including his performance in Under the Banner of Heaven.

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Jerrod Carmichael has been busy since the last time he talked with Marc in the garage. He directed his first movie, On The Count Of Three. He put out his third standup special, Rothaniel, and hosted SNL, getting Emmy nominations for both. He also came out as gay. Jerrod talks with Marc about how terrified he was about coming out and how he faced his fear on stage as he incorporated it into his act. They also talk about Jerrod’s realization of the social responsibility in his work now and how his desire to subvert expectations keeps him going. 

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Christina Ricci grew up around enough chaos to make her want constant control. Which is why the show Yellowjackets is such a different experience for her. As Christina tells Marc, she decided to surrender knowing anything about the direction of the show and its characters, and that lack of control is infused in her performance as Misty Quigley. They also talk about what Christina learned from Cher while making her first film, the much-loved movie she can’t stand watching herself in, and her long-time-coming partnership with Juliette Lewis.

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Patton Oswalt returns to the garage more than a decade since his last appearance, but he and Marc have so much shared history that it’s always easy to pick up right where they left off. Patton and Marc talk about their memories of the San Francisco comedy scene, their encounters with Bill Hicks, their professional triumphs and their personal tragedies. They also discuss Patton’s latest projects including his comic book, Minor Threats, and his new film, I Love My Dad.

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Journalist Sam Quinones blew Marc’s mind six years ago with his book Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic. More recently, he devoted his research and reporting to understanding how America got caught in the clutches of newer, more addictive, and more lethal synthetic drugs. Sam’s latest book is The Least of Us: True Tales of America and Hope in the Time of Fentanyl and Meth. Sam talks with Marc about how these drugs work over the brain, how they’re getting into the country, and how they have exacerbated America’s homelessness crisis.

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Comedian James Acaster caught Marc’s attention when he released four hour-long Netflix standup specials simultaneously. But in watching the specials, Marc quickly recognized a likeminded comic with a compulsion to express himself. James and Marc sit down in a Montreal hotel room as the Just For Laughs Festival churns around them and try to figure out why they get so down on themselves while doing an art form that they supposedly love. They also compare notes on the tribal divisions in comedy both in the States and in the UK.

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Neil Gaiman’s writing - from The Sandman to American Gods to Good Omens to hundreds of comics, novels and screenplays - uses fantasy to help explain modern reality. Marc talks with Neil about how his early work sidestepped the pre-adolescent male power fantasies of most contemporary comic books and helped connect with a broad and enduring fanbase. They also talk about the new adaptation of The Sandman for Netflix and why Neil believes his past experiences in TV led him to make the ideal filmed version of his work.

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Comedian Zainab Johnson can survive anything in the comedy world after she survived growing up with twelve siblings in a New York City apartment, substitute teaching in juvenile detention centers, and being hit by a truck in an accident that altered the course of her life. Zainab also tells Marc how comics like Keith Robinson, Ian Edwards and Jimmy Schubert were instrumental in her development on the standup stage.

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Talking Heads and The Modern Lovers are two of the most influential bands of the ’70s and many would argue two of the best bands ever. And Jerry Harrison was in them both. Jerry and Marc talk about the blending of modern art and rock music that both of those bands helped pioneer and the environment in New York City that allowed groups like The Velvet Underground, Blondie, and The Ramones to thrive. They also get into the tensions behind the scenes with the Talking Heads members and Jerry’s rekindled friendship with Modern Lovers frontman Jonathan Richman.

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Nikki Glaser returns to the show because Marc finds her so easy to talk with, probably because they share so many similarities. They have kindred stand-up processes, they both get stressed out by writing, they have lifelong issues with food and eating, and they’re both still trying to figure out all that sex stuff. Marc and Nikki talk about all of that, as well as Nikki’s new HBO stand-up special, the places in the world they’re considering moving to, and whether it’s healthy to know anything about Pete Davidson and Kim Kardashian’s love life.

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When Michael Mann talks with Marc about his 1995 crime epic Heat, he has such command of the deep backstory and destinies of all the film’s characters, it seems like he has a whole Heat Universe in his head. Which is one reason he wrote the new expanded story Heat 2: A Novel. But Marc finds out that Michael does this type of extensive research and world-building for all his films, and they talk about everything from Thief to The Last of the Mohicans to The Insider to Ali to Collateral to Miami Vice and so much more. 

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Orny Adams says that being a comedian is the one thing he knows he’s good at. He also says that being in the documentary Comedian is something that will weigh on him for the rest of his life. Orny talks with Marc about how that documentary largely colored perceptions of him, why Jerry Seinfeld chose him for it in the first place, how his comedy suffered as a result, and how it ultimately led to a surprising career detour with the series Teen Wolf.

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Comedian and writer Naomi Ekperigin is a cheerful person who also finds herself paralyzed with rage. It’s a balancing act she has to manage, just like she balanced her time in writers’ rooms with getting on stage night after night to work on her standup. Naomi and Marc talk about her family in Nigeria, working for the National Theater for the Deaf, editing an art magazine, and her time working on shows like Broad City, Difficult People and Good News. 

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Jerry Stahl is one of Marc’s best friends. But sometimes you have no idea your best friend lived in a cave at one point. And that’s why you sit down with him in the garage. Jerry talks with Marc about his years of troubled behavior which led to a life threatening illness and doctors telling him he only had a year to live. Marc also finds out more about Jerry’s life as a writer, from his days working for porno magazines to his celebrated books like Permanent Midnight and his new book Nein, Nein, Nein! about self-discovery on a tour of concentration camps.

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Jason Kander was a rising star in national politics. In fact, he was staging a run for the Presidency and got the thumbs up from none other than Barack Obama himself. Then the roof caved in. Jason tells Marc why he needed to put everything on hold in order to treat his PTSD, something he’d been suffering since serving in Afghanistan eleven years earlier, but also something he wouldn’t allow himself to confront for more than a decade. Jason’s new book is Invisible Storm: A Soldier’s Memoir of Politics and PTSD.

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Singer-songwriter Laura Veirs has something to prove with her latest album, Found Light. After divorce ended her 20-years-long collaborative relationship with her producer husband, Laura not only needed to prove she could create a new album independently, but she needed to be sure of who she was in the world going forward. Laura and Marc talk about love and loss and the power of therapeutic mushrooms. They also talk about how Laura suffers from imposter syndrome when she’s around her other collaborators, k.d. lang and Neko Case.

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Comedian Atsuko Okatsuka has familiarity with garages. But unlike Marc, she didn’t start a podcast in one. She lived in one with her mother and grandmother for seven years, as three generations of immigrant women dealt with cramped quarters, eating disorders and schizophrenia. Atsuko tells Marc how she was unaware as a young girl that her trip from Japan to America was going to become permanent and how her discovery of standup comedy helped her find her voice.

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Dana Gould is in his 40th year of doing standup. He and Marc talk about what they’ve learned in their decades of comedy, how they came to accept their limitations, and how they see themselves in today’s standup environment. Dana also explains why he went back on stage after years of giving it up to work on The Simpsons, why he feels that progress in comedy means knowing when you were wrong, and why he always goes back to George Carlin.

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Kate Berlant’s comedy defies easy categorization. That’s okay with Kate, who thinks people use a lot of empty terms to pin down comedy. Kate and Marc talk about how growing up in the art world helped Kate take a different approach when she got on the comedy stage as a teenager. They also talk about Kate’s sketch work with fellow comedian John Early, the inspiration she took from the late Brody Stevens, and why her Bo Burnham-directed comedy special remains in limbo.

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When Jen Statsky and her collaborators were creating the show Hacks, they knew they needed to nail the portrayal of life in standup comedy because comics will quickly know if they got it wrong. Marc talks with Jen about how they did, indeed, nail it. They also talk about her work at The Onion and on shows like Parks and Rec, The Good Place, Broad City and Lady Dynamite. Plus, Jen and Marc talk about stuffing your feelings, getting better at acknowledging them, and understanding why growing up in Boston might lead you to ignoring them.

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Marc has a very direct question for his old friend Greg Proops: “Did we lose?” In the fight for the heart and soul of comedy, there is real uncertainty about the current trajectory. What legacy did the alternative comedy movement leave, if any? Did the Obama years create a false sense of security for popular comedians that made them drop the ball? Will a there be a counterforce to the dominant strain of reactionary backlash comedy? Marc and Greg interrogate these questions and their own roles in the past three decades of comedy.

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For a while, Lara Beitz could only get on stage to do comedy if she was hammered. She'd drink to feel less nervous but then there wasn't a time when she didn't feel nervous, so she was just always drinking. Lara and Marc talk about their shared experiences with addiction and recovery as they were developing their voices as comedians. Lara also looks back on an upbringing that was clouded by the specter of alcoholism and how she had to come to terms with it later in life. 

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Oscar and Emmy-winning visual effects artist Phil Tippett is responsible for some of the most memorable effects in movies history, like the alien chess match in Star Wars, the giant robot walkers in The Empire Strikes Back, the ED-209 in RoboCop and more. And because his work is almost always rooted in stop-motion animation, Phil tends to be meticulous. It's why, as he tells Marc, he started his first film 30 years ago and it's only complete now. They talk about the creation of this movie, Mad God, and how it drove Phil to the brink.

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Jesus Trejo knows he put in the work to become a paid regular at The Comedy Store, spending years doing open mic spots and performing at 1am for a handful of people. Not to mention paying his dues unclogging toilets at the club and putting up Mitzi Shore's Christmas tree. But even with all of that behind him, Jesus still breaks out in a sweat when he tells Marc about those times he completely bombed as he was trying to learn the ropes. Jesus also tells Marc about being a caregiver for both his parents and what gave him the courage to work that real life scenario into his act.

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Rosie Perez initially thought success would paper over her trauma. But the emotional ramifications from the abuse she went through as a child were never going to stay hidden for long. Rosie and Marc talk about how acting is still risky for her but now she has tools to help work through the high-wire act of tapping into dark places. They also talk about her friendship with Spike Lee, her reasons for working a lot, and her two current series, The Flight Attendant and Now & Then.

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From 2018, Ray Liotta talks with Marc about getting his start in soap operas, the debt he owes to Melanie Griffith, and the emotional filming of Goodfellas. Ray died on May 26, 2022 at age 67.

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Joey Camen left a dysfunctional home in Detroit as a teenager and, thanks to an ad he saw in a Playboy, knew exactly where he needed to go. He went straight to the brand new club on the Sunset Strip, The Comedy Store, and quickly became one of the club's first regulars. Joey and Marc talk about those early days of the Store, living in fear of Mitzi, and becoming friends with the likes of Paul Mooney and Richard Pryor before falling under the tutelage of legendary voice actor Daws Butler.

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This is an episode about history. Collective history and personal history. Marc finds himself in Washington, DC on the latest leg of his standup tour, a place imbued with symbolism, both for what we want it to be, but also what we really are. And it's where Marc's college roommate lives. First, Marc reckons with a history of injustice at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture with curator Dr. Dwandalyn Reece. Then Marc tries to piece together his own past with his old roommate, Lance Mion.

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Michael Che wanted out his life on the Lower East Side, but his initial path was not comedy. It was painting and fine art. Michael tells Marc how he became enamored with standup while living in his brother's basement, how he came to love the grind of building an act, and how he puts everything he's learned into his sketch show, That Damn Michael Che. They also talk about the growing pains of doing Weekend Update on SNL and why hosting award shows isn't all it's cracked up to be.

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Sandra Oh spent much of her career believing certain opportunities weren't going to come her way because they're just not afforded to Asian actors. Sandra and Marc talk about what she found in herself to overcome that sense of externally imposed limitations and how she built a body of work including Grey's Anatomy, Sideways, Killing Eve and The Chair. Sandra also explains how she's drawing inspiration from John C. Reilly in this next phase of her life as an actor.

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The Doobie Brothers is a band with almost twenty official members throughout its five decades of existence. But Tom Johnston and Pat Simmons have been playing guitar and performing vocals for the band since Day One. Tom and Pat talk with Marc about how their family-like band has grown and evolved throughout the years, particularly during iterations with members like Jeff “Skunk” Baxter and Michael McDonald. Also, during his time in Tulsa, Marc pays a visit to the new Bob Dylan Center and talks with its director, Steven Jenkins.

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Marc remembers the life and comedy of Dan Vitale, a comedian whose raw and unapologetically personal style of stand-up was a big influence on a young Marc Maron. Marc talks about how his perception of what it meant to be a stand-up comic changed while watching Dan, how their talk in 2014 exemplified WTF, and how the connection they maintained in the following years helped Marc through the darkness. Marc also shares the entirety of Dan's episode from March 2014.

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Nicole Holofcener has trouble breathing. She finds herself holding her breath for too long, which could be a result of allergies or a byproduct of sleep apnea. But it's also an apt metaphor for the life of an independent filmmaker. Nicole and Marc talk about what it takes to make films with small budgets, casting conundrums, and deeply personal subject matter. They discuss the films she wrote and directed like Walking and Talking, Lovely and Amazing, and Enough Said, as well as her contributions to The Last Duel and her reasons for continuing to work on episodic television shows.

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Tony Hawk walked into Marc's garage on a broken leg, the result of a recent skateboarding trick gone wrong. It's everything about Tony that's on display in the new documentary Tony Hawk: Until The Wheels Fall Off, distilled down to one cracked femur. Tony and Marc talk about why it's so hard to stop doing what you love, the fear of being seen as washed up, and the feeling of being a kid and finding something that you know you want to do for the rest of your life.

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It's normal for everyone to call Troy Andrews by his stage name, Trombone Shorty, because he's been playing the trombone since he was a tiny, four-year-old boy. Troy and Marc talk about the musical culture of New Orleans, growing up in the Treme, touring with Lenny Kravitz right out of high school, becoming the frontman of his own band, making the trombone a featured instrument, creating a musical education academy, and recording his new album, Lifted, which is inspired by his mother.

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Vanessa Bayer knows her comedic talent comes from a decidedly unfunny place. Vanessa's teenage cancer diagnosis focused her comedy skills, which in turn allowed her to help people process, understand and laugh at horrible things. Vanessa and Marc talk about how her natural optimism guided her through this health crisis and also put her in a great headspace for the Saturday Night Live audition process. Vanessa also explains why she incorporated her real life medical history into her new comedy series, I Love That For You.

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Children's book author Aaron Blabey can measure success by the more than 30 million books he's sold. But that success was a long time coming and in many ways felt like it was never in reach. Aaron tells Marc how the popular art and culture coming from outside Australia made him feel dissatisfied with his own life, how his excursions into acting and painting left him empty, and how he accidentally fulfilled all his creative impulses when he came up with The Bad Guys books. They also talk about The Bad Guys movie and what it was like to have Marc playing one of his characters.

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Robert Eggers was never into Vikings or hand-to-hand combat or macho stuff. And yet he just made the Viking movie to end all Viking movies, filled with brutal violence and macho posturing. But as he tells Marc, making The Northman was all in the service of his quest to transmit the sublime. Robert and Marc talk the meticulous attention to detail he brings to his films, how he's fascinated by the search for belief amidst ritual and fantasy, and how he grew up loving comic books but would now rather make movies like The Witch and The Lighthouse than a superhero story. 

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The guiding philosophy in the life of Harvey Fierstein is simple: Say yes. As he put together his new memoir, I Was Better Last Night, it was clear to Harvey his extraordinary life relied on saying yes to opportunities, yes to activism, and yes to his own self worth. Harvey and Marc talk about the challenges of dealing with the past in memoir writing, the importance of telling the stories of gay culture in the '60s and '70s, and the evolving understanding of gender and identity.

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From 2012, Gilbert Gottfried talks to Marc about his comedy peers, his one-year stint on SNL, the times his jokes got him in trouble, and more. Gilbert died on April 12, 2022, at age 67.

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Bonnie Raitt doesn't feel the need to slow down. With the release of her 18th studio album and the start of an eight-month world tour, the prolific singer-songwriter knows what it's like to make the most of your opportunities. Bonnie talks with Marc about growing up in a musical home, falling into the Laurel Canyon music scene, struggling with substance abuse, getting sober in her late-30s and having her first hit album in her 40s. They also talk about Bonnie's continuing work with James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Mavis Staples and Lucinda Williams.

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Zazie Beetz and Marc were in three things together - Joker, the Netflix series Easy, and the new animated film The Bad Guys - but they're only now meeting each other for real. That makes for a good opportunity to interrogate their respective anxiety issues and compare their coping strategies. Zazie and Marc also talk about her German heritage, why she's not an LA person, and how she sees her work on Atlanta as being part of an overall reflection of Donald Glover's real life story. 

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Comedian Adam Ray was a high school athlete, a musical theater performer, and an acting student with his eyes on Hollywood. But one thing he never could shake was the feeling of being an overweight kid when he was younger. Adam and Marc talk about how doing comedy helps keep feelings of insecurity at bay and why the two of them struggled to get over their fears of being on stage. Adam also talks about playing Jay Leno on Pam and Tommy, Vince McMahon on Young Rock, and Wolverine at the Universal Studios theme park.

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Comedian Guy Torry spent 13 years creating and running the most famous all-black comedy night in America at The Comedy Store. And now Guy just spent another 13 years making a documentary about that influential weekly comedy show, Phat Tuesdays. Guy and Marc talk about the limited opportunities for Black comedians in mainstream clubs and how the racially divided climate of 1990s Los Angeles highlighted the need to fill a comedy void. Guy explains the importance of comedian Robin Harris in mentoring young comedians and how comics like Martin Lawrence, Bernie Mac and others thrived in the new environment.

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The Red Hot Chili Peppers have been around for almost 40 years and Flea has been there for every minute of it. He and Marc talk about Flea's jazz-based upbringing that made him the bassist he is today, the various incarnations of the band, and the current reunion with multi-time bandmate John Frusciante for their new album, Unlimited Love. Flea also talks about the heartbreak of losing the Chili Pepper's founding guitarist Hillel Slovak to drug addiction and the demons the rest of the band have fought to overcome.

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Sam Jay has a lot of irons in the fire. She's on the comedy series Bust Down, she has her own HBO late night show Pause, and she never stops doing standup. Sam tells Marc that standup is the one thing that's guided her through it all, whether it was getting through tough personal times when she was younger or when she was hired as a writer on SNL with no formal writing experience. It's always been standup that served as her North Star, which she now uses as a way to communicate across generational and racial divides.

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Jeff Foxworthy still cringes when he knows other comics are watching his work. That persistent insecurity and the desire to always stay funny is why Jeff has a new Netflix special and a whole new act. Jeff talks with Marc about the drive that made him quit his job at IBM to try and get on Johnny Carson. They also talk about how he formed the Blue Collar Comedy Tour and how he feels about being known for his “You Might Be A Redneck” hook even though it hasn't been part of his act for 20 years.

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Ariana DeBose knows there was no way for her to prepare for what's happening right now. There's no instruction booklet for being a professional dancer at age 18 and suddenly becoming an Academy Award-nominated actress. Ariana and Marc talk about how getting voted off So You Think You Can Dance changed her life and how she checked herself by watching The Devil Wears Prada. Ariana also goes into the details of making West Side Story, including her collaborations with Steven Spielberg, Tony Kushner and Rita Moreno. 

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It's been almost seven years since Marc smoked a cigarette with Keith Richards in a radio studio in New York City. Since then, Keith gave up smoking, continued to tour with the Rolling Stones, released multiple new albums including a blues record, and is now re-issuing his solo album Main Offender. Marc and Keith catch up on all of that and also talk about the passing of Keith's friend and bandmate Charlie Watts. Also, Marc revisits his full conversation with Keith from 2015.

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Mike O'Brien has the distinction of being responsible for Marc Maron crossing over into the world of improv. With a background in the Chicago improv and sketch scene and seven seasons writing for Saturday Night Live, Lynn Shelton approached Mike to help create a movie that would be entirely improvised by the cast. That movie was Sword of Trust starring Marc Maron. Mike and Marc talk about the making of the film, Mike's comedy background, and the fan movement that gave Mike's TV show, A.P. Bio, a new life.

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Not many people know Marc the way Caroline Rhea does. They have a history that runs through the many different stages of each of their lives and careers. Caroline and Marc sit down for a conversation about confronting the past, learning from failure, and reckoning with the fact that their work now resonates with multiple generations of fans. They're also able to compare notes on their experiences in comedy, such as which clubs are actually the good ones and what missed opportunities were better left unaccomplished. 

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Mira Sorvino has a lot of talents beyond acting. She speaks Mandarin Chinese, she dances ballet, she plays guitar. But acting is what Mira believes she was born to do. And then for almost 20 years, she was prevented from doing it on her own terms because of a powerful man and a complicit industry. Mira and Marc talk about how she went from winning an Oscar to being put on a Hollywood blacklist by Harvey Weinstein and how she didn't learn the truth until 17 years later. They also talk about her career renaissance, including her scene-stealing turn on the new series Shining Vale.

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Sam Elliott plays a lot of tough guys - cowboys, bikers, soldiers - who can (and often do) beat people up. But in reality, Sam says the only guy he beats up is himself. Sam and Marc talk about how he came to terms with some of the things in his life that were really doing a number on him, like how his father never approved of his life as an actor. They also talk about some of his most popular roles, like The Stranger in The Big Lebowski, Bobby in A Star Is Born, and his new addition to the Yellowstone franchise, Shea on 1883.

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From 2013, Sally Kellerman talks with Marc about being his TV mom, embracing Hot Lips, and working with Robert Altman, Marlon Brando, Rodney Dangerfield and more. Sally died on February 24, 2022 at age 84.

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W. Kamau Bell has talked with Marc before about his life, his comedy and his thoughts about the world. But this time there's a single topic that needs to be addressed: Bill Cosby. Kamau tells Marc why he decided to make the documentary series We Need To Talk About Cosby, the obstacles he encountered in getting it made, the comedians who wouldn't talk to him, and the backlash he's received for making the doc. Kamau also explains what happened when Cosby was released from prison while they were still shooting. 

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From 2014, Marc talks with John Szeles, better known as The Amazing Johnathan, about his life doing comedy and magic, often at the same time. John died on February 22, 2022 at age 63

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From 2017, Marc talks with Mark Lanegan, the former frontman of Screaming Trees, about the '90s grunge scene and his collaborations with various artists. Mark died on February 22, 2022 at age 57.

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Andy Garcia says it's surreal to look back on his early life as a shy Cuban exile who was idolizing famous actors and filmmakers, only to be reminiscing now about the work he's done with Sean Connery, Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro and so many others. Andy and Marc talk about his years in LA with no acting work, his improv group at The Comedy Store, and how he was supposed to play the henchman in The Untouchables. They also talk about Andy being part of The Godfather films, with the original being the movie that made Andy want to become an actor in the first place.

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Roy Wood Jr can't be angry on stage. He wants to be angry. But he believes his face is too round to be angry. Now, whenever Roy wants to say something mean in his act, he knows he has to smile while he does it. Roy tells Marc how he learned to navigate the way audiences perceive him while doing the Southern standup circuit and honing his skills on The Daily Show. He also explains how doing the show Finding Your Roots upended what he thought was the truth of his life story and prompted him to undertake a personal journey. 

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Ana Gasteyer learned a major life lesson from Will Ferrell and it has nothing to do with their time together on Saturday Night Live. It was about making choices, square dancing and knowing how to have fun. Ana and Marc talk about how much fun she's had in her life and career, including her time in the Groundlings, her work on Broadway and her roles in ensemble comedies like her new series American Auto. She also talks about the circle of friends she still keeps from her time on SNL and the bond she has with cast members whenever she meets them. 

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From 2014, Marc talks with filmmaker Ivan Reitman about his career, his movies and his relationship with his writer-director son, Jason. Ivan died on February 12, 2022 at age 75.

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Chris Spencer is the kind of guy the White House calls when they need a show business favor. How did he become so connected? In Chris's words, Black Hollywood is a small place. Chris talks with Marc about how his early comedy career paved the way for a big break as a late night talk show host. But when that opportunity fizzled from the start, Chris had to figure out how to redirect his talents. That new approach led to a lot of comedy writing and directing his first feature film with Kevin Hart, Wesley Snipes and Tiffany Haddish. 

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Judd Hirsch is interested in the pursuit of truth. That's why he loved math as a student, that's why he got a physics degree, and that's why he has a civil engineering background. But he also learned to apply the pursuit of truth to his acting. Judd tells Marc why he always insists on conveying the truth about his characters, down to changing the characters' names if they don't feel right. They talk about his roles in Taxi, Ordinary People, Uncut Gems and as Marc's dad on the show Maron, and how he uncovered the truth in all of those instances. 

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Sam Richardson thinks desperation is the key to comedy. His characters from shows like Detroiters and I Think You Should Leave are a testament to that philosophy. Sam and Marc talk about his childhood being split between the United States and Ghana, his days performing on cruise ships for Second City, and his friendship with Tim Robinson, which began with Tim as Sam's improv teacher. Sam also explains how his role as Richard Splett on Veep went from a one-episode guest shot to a series regular who winds up becoming the President.

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Tony Kushner is one of the most important American playwrights of the past 50 years who is now a creative partner of one of the most important American filmmakers of the last 50 years. Tony talks with Marc about working with Steven Spielberg on Munich, Lincoln and the new adaptation of West Side Story. They also discuss the history of Jews in the Louisiana lumber industry, the pivotal moment of Angels in America that came to him in a dream, and the play he saw when he was six that made him want to be a part of the theater community.

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Film critic Dana Stevens took her love for Silent Movie Era star Buster Keaton and told the story of the 20th century film industry as it evolved alongside Buster's own life. Marc talks with Dana about her new book, Camera Man, which is not just a biography of Keaton. It's a look at the politics of film, the beginning of the studio system, the start of film criticism, the rise and fall of early movie stars, and how America dealt with the seismic change that was ushered in by this new art form. 

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Peter Dinklage spent a good portion of his life trying to come to terms with ambition. It's something he's had an adversarial relationship with, going back to the days when he started a theater company that mounted no productions. But Peter tells Marc how he got more comfortable with having an acting career and how he learned to embrace mainstream success, whether it was from his star turn in The Station Agent or his work on Game of Thones or his latest film, the new adaptation of Cyrano.

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Hear Marc's two conversations with comedian and actor Louie Anderson from June 2016 and April 2018. Louie died on January 21, 2022 at age 68.

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John Mellencamp considers his whole career to be a total fluke. Maybe that's because he never planned for anything in his life and just let the chips fall where they may. As he releases his twenty-fifth studio album, Strictly A One-Eyed Jack, John tells Marc what he learned opening for The Kinks, why he had to take the name Johnny Cougar, why he still hasn't written something that makes him proud, and why David Letterman's mom attributed Dave's career to John.

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Nicole Byer hosts the hit shows Nailed It! and Wipeout, is working on her new standup hour, hosts four different podcasts and is starring in the new primetime NBC series Grand Crew. But she still had time to join Marc in the garage so they can try to figure out why they both have such a hard time with physical affection. They also talk about Nicole's days as an endearingly bad waitress, how she coped with losing both of her parents at a young age, and what few things she actually knows how to bake. 

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Drew Michael wants his comedy to feel different. He wants the audience to have a unique experience. This mindset actually reminds Marc of his own style of comedy, as well as a few other iconoclastic stand-ups who used their time on stage to get laughs but also get to the bottom of life's problems. Drew and Marc talk about the combustible nature of experimental comedy, specifically Drew's new special Red Blue Green. They also talk about how Drew's childhood hearing loss shaped his life and made comedy a viable way for him to be understood.

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Javier Bardem finds lots of inspiration in his native Spain: the art, the creativity, the history, the ham. Marc talks with Javier about the importance of being raised in a creative family, including his uncle who fought the fascists through his films and his mother who was his greatest teacher. They also talk about some of Javier's most memorable performances in films like No Country for Old Men, Before Night Falls and his recent portrayal of Desi Arnaz in Being the Ricardos.

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Marc pays tribute to comedian Bob Saget and revisits his three WTF appearances from September 2010, April 2014 and November 2017. Bob died on January 9, 2022 at age 65.

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From 2015, Marc talks with director Peter Bogdanovich about his life as a filmmaker, his days in the theater and his friendship with Orson Welles. Peter died on January 6, 2022 at age 82.

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Most people who know David Manheim don't know him as David Manheim. To fans of the Dopey podcast, he's just Dave (no last name given), a recovering drug addict who built a tight-knit digital community around addiction, recovery and being human. David talks with Marc about how his career in show business fizzled out as addiction took hold of his life and how starting a podcast with a friend he met in recovery was his salvation. They also talk about Dave's other life at Katz's Deli and they get into the important hierarchy of deli meats. 

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Recently, Marc talked with television historian David Bianculli about The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and the important place it holds in American culture. Talking with Tom and Dick Smothers themselves, Marc finds that the brothers are as surprised as anyone that they left such an indelible mark. Starting with an act that grew out of the folk music scene, Tom and Dick talk about the evolution of their variety show, how they wound up locking horns with the network that ultimately fired them, and why they're getting back on stage after 12 years of retirement.

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When Rory Cochrane started acting, he knew he didn't want to be a movie star. He wanted to be a freight train that keeps on moving. Rory tells Marc about the practices and measures he put in place to attain his goal of career longevity and artistic satisfaction. They also talk about why it's important for him to work on productions where the crew is treated well, why he asked to leave CSI: Miami when it was still the biggest show on TV, and what led to some of his pivotal career moments in movies like Dazed and Confused, Black Mass, and Argo.

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Aida Rodriguez wanted her first HBO special to be more than a comedy show. She wanted to depict the parts of her past that are foundational to her comedy. So that's why she filmed a short documentary about her visits to Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, as she reunited with the father she hadn't seen in 40 years. Marc and Aida talk about how she got comedy material out of a life story that included being kidnapped twice, finding herself raising her children without a home, and breaking into the business later in life.

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Guillermo del Toro believes in one universal truth: We all get to a moment in our lives when we see ourselves for who we really are. That belief not only guides his own life, it guides the characters through his many films. Guillermo and Marc talk about how he takes on the dark forces of the world in his movies, including his latest, Nightmare Alley. They also discuss his friendship with fellow Oscar-winning directors Alejandro González Iñárritu and Alfonso Cuarón, his expansive collection of oddities, and his strong identification with outsider characters and monsters.

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Despite multiple Oscars and billions of dollars in box office returns, Peter Jackson still has the same interests he had when he was 10 years old: First World War airplanes, monster movies, using his Super 8 camera, and The Beatles. Peter tells Marc what it was like to be entrusted with more than 60 hours of Beatles footage to make the new documentary Get Back, why he was filled with dread when he started the project, and why he was surprised by what he found when he went through the footage. 

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At one point, Chan Marshall was in a band called Cat Power. But it's appropriate for someone like Chan, who had to be self-reliant almost from birth, that she'd adopt the name as her own once the band dissolved. Chan and Marc talk about her rebirth as Cat Power, the Atlanta music scene in the early ‘90s, carrying trauma throughout her life, and finding out that making music grounded her in something real for the first time. They also focus on her eclectic collections of cover songs as she prepares to release another album of them.

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Halle Berry wasn't supposed to be in the movie Bruised. And she definitely wasn't supposed to direct the movie Bruised. Then she wound up being in it and directing it, but no one wanted to take a chance on it. Now it's such a hit for Netflix that they've signed her to a multi-picture deal. Halle tells Marc what it took to get to this place in her life and career, transcending her childhood of abuse to create a portfolio of performances where she breathes life into broken people. 

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Still only in his early 30s, Jesse Plemons has already delivered a laundry list of indelible performances in everything from Breaking Bad to Friday Night Lights to Black Mass, working with directors like Paul Thomas Anderson, Martin Scorsese and now Jane Campion in The Power of the Dog. Jesse tells Marc how a humble kid from Central Texas cultivated an acting career that would be the envy of any performer. They also talk about what it's like for Jesse to act opposite his wife, Kirsten Dunst.

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Jennifer Hudson didn't start singing with her eyes open until she was 19 years old. That's not a metaphor. Jennifer tells Marc how she was so afraid to sing in public, the only way she could do it was by closing her eyes. They talk about what it was like to finally feel brave enough to open them and the doors that also opened up when she did. Jennifer explains the centrality of church in her life, how faith helped guide her through unspeakable tragedy, and why she got Aretha Franklin's blessing to portray her in the movie Respect.

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Benedict Cumberbatch is a busy man. When he's not holding the Marvel Universe together as Doctor Strange or making prestige dramas with celebrated directors, he's flying between the U.S. and the U.K. to raise a family. Benedict and Marc talk about his latest projects, The Electrical Life of Louis Wain and Jane Campion's The Power of The Dog, as well as his early life as the child of two working actors. Plus a lot of talk about cats. 

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Bill Pullman's upbringing in rural Western New York prepared him for a multifaceted life, since he always had to keep his options open. So aside from being an actor, Bill's also been a theater teacher, a rancher, a fruit grower, even a traveling Shakespeare performer in Montana. Bill and Marc talk about how he incorporated dream analysis into his performances in both David Lynch's Lost Highway and his current show The Sinner, why Spaceballs was actually a great crash course in movie acting, and what's the root cause of the timeless Pullman-Paxton confusion.

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WTF takes over the historic Paris Theater in New York City for the first live audience episode of the show in more than six years. Marc is joined by film critic and historian Jason Bailey, author of the new book Fun City Cinema. They get into what the movies tell us about New York and what New York tells us about ourselves. Marc and Jason go over this history of movie making in NYC, including a deep dive into The Taking of Pelham 123 from Jason's Fun City Cinema podcast.

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Ridley Scott has a secret weapon as a filmmaker and it probably has a lot to do with his career longevity and versatility. As a young boy, he would draw everything, and to this day he still storyboards every one of his films with his own drawings. That helps him deliver the finished product efficiently, often under schedule and under budget. Marc talks with Ridley about how he worked his craft on films like Blade Runner, Thelma and Louise, Black Hawk Down, Gladiator, American Gangster, and his two most recent films, The Last Duel and House of Gucci. 

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Kenneth Branagh had a lot on his mind when making the movie Belfast, a film based on his own childhood. He thought mostly about loss. Loss of family, loss of where you come from, loss of innocence. As Kenneth tells Marc, he's been thinking about loss a lot lately and figuring out how to strike a balance between heartbreaking and heartwarming. Marc and Kenneth also talk about the importance of visiting the graves of people you admire, what discovering Shakespeare did for Kenneth at a young age, why he might be ready to play King Lear, and why he worries about something actors call The Bleed.

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George Clooney is 60. Which means, much like Marc, he's always reminding himself that he doesn't know how much time he has left. George tells Marc how this mindset affects all his decisions, whether it's the projects he takes on, the causes he fights for, or the time he frees up to spend with his children. They also discuss George's directorial work, including his latest film The Tender Bar, his introduction to show business by his father and his Aunt Rosemary, and his thoughts on avoiding further tragic accidents involving guns on movie sets.

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Marc is trying to get to the bottom of something. What does it really mean to be 'canceled' in comedy? Is it something comedians have always worried about? What does actual censorship in comedy look like? And who or what is traditionally responsible for censoring the comedy world? Marc talks to comedy historian Kliph Nesteroff and Smothers Brothers biographer David Bianculli about the history of comedians complaining they “can't say anything anymore” and what it looks like when they actually do get canceled for speaking their minds.

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The challenges of standup comedy were nothing compared to the obstacles Felipe Esparza faced throughout his childhood. His family was caught crossing the border and sent back to Mexico. When he finally made it to America, he found himself living with an abusive father in a Los Angeles neighborhood being decimated by crack and PCP. And as Felipe tells Marc, even when he was getting good standup gigs, he couldn't escape his past. They also talk about Felipe's vegan journey, the big comedy lesson he learned from the library, and the difference between doing his act in English and in Spanish.

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How did Bob Spitz become the preeminent biographer of the most important and influential names in rock and roll? Before he wrote the definitive narratives of Bob Dylan, The Beatles and now Led Zeppelin, Bob was a business manager who was there for the discovery of Bruce Springsteen and flew around the globe with Elton John. Bob tells Marc how he merged his experience in the business with an investigative approach to these music biographies and then extended it to other subjects like Woodstock, European cooking, Julia Child and Ronald Reagan. 

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Being from Queens is as much a part of Ricky Velez's personality as his humor, his dyslexia and his depression. Ricky tells Marc how he put it all together when he started doing standup in New York City as a teenager, which eventually led to collaborating with Judd Apatow, who produced Ricky's new HBO special. They also talk about Ricky's friendship with Pete Davidson, his failed attempt to join the Coast Guard, and how a TV segment with Bill Nye led to an internet nightmare. 

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Jennifer Lee Pryor was there for Richard Pryor's highest highs and his lowest lows. She experienced so much with Richard that she married him twice. Jennifer and Marc talk about the brilliant, complicated, visionary, frustrating man that was Richard Pryor and how Jennifer became the guardian of his legacy, culminating with a new career-spanning box set. They also talk about Jennifer's time as a ‘70s wild child, making her way through show biz on both coasts.

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Hasan Minhaj took the pressures put on him to become a lawyer and channeled them into the ambition necessary to start a standup career, become a Daily Show correspondent, host his own show (Patriot Act), get cast on a prestige drama (The Morning Show), and have a future in comedy as bright as anyone in his peer group. Marc and Hasan break down the roots of that ambition, how it differs between different generations of comedians, and whether or not there's a correlation between comedy and entrepreneurship.

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David Chang wouldn't have opened his first restaurant if he wasn't depressed. Now, with his Momofuku empire that brings joy to foodies everywhere, David still finds himself struggling to find joy. Marc talks with David about their shared demons and what steps they each take to overcome them, in particular creating boundaries, being less angry, and working to correct past mistakes. They also talk about David's new show The Next Thing You Eat, his friendship with Anthony Bourdain, and his life as a new dad.

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Jane Goodall has hope. Yes, even in these times. That doesn't mean the good doctor looks at the world with rose-colored glasses. It means she knows hope is a necessary part of our survival as a species. Marc talks with Dr. Goodall about The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times and finds out what inspires her these days. They also talk about her famous primate research that changed the way we humans understand ourselves, her work to spread environmental equity, and her thoughts on Bigfoot.

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As Connor Roy on Succession, Alan Ruck finally has the kind of role he's been waiting to get for more than 30 years. And as Alan tells Marc, some of those years weren't very fun. There was the time after playing Cameron in Ferris Bueller's Day Off when he could only get work in a Sears warehouse. Or the time before making Speed when he left acting and started tending bar. And then the time when he got sick while shooting Spin City and almost died. At least there were some Star Trek conventions sprinkled in the mix.

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Taraji P. Henson says all her f***s are behind her now. But after three decades in show business, Taraji admits she only feels freedom from her f***s because of her openness around mental health. Taraji and Marc talk about the importance of coping with mental illness, as well as Taraji's work to encourage mental health awareness in the Black community. They also talk about her landmark performances, from Baby Boy to Empire to Hidden Figures, and how she dealt with getting pushed out of roles after being told that “Black doesn't sell.” 

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Kelefa Sanneh has been writing about music for his entire career. Drawing on his experience as the music critic at The New York Times, a staff writer for The New Yorker, and a lifelong music obsessive, Kelefa took a detailed look at how music unites and divides us with his new opus, Major Labels: A History of Popular Music in Seven Genres. Marc and Kelefa talk about their own personal musical journeys, how genres are comparable to communities, and how identities can be established and shaped by the music we love.

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American audiences fell in love with Julie Delpy as the romantic French traveler Celine in Before Sunrise and its two sequels. But Julie didn't have an equal love affair with the making of Hollywood films. She tells Marc that she was always happier as a writer and director, and her ongoing fight against institutional biases and sexism left her more than a little frustrated. With her new comedy series on Netflix, On The Verge, Julie is creating an unfortunately rare depiction of women in their 40s and 50s.

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Rosebud Baker knows all about the fine line between sadness and funny. She's learned how to get laughs out of the tragedy that befell her family, her alcohol addiction, her co-dependent and abusive relationships, and her grandfather, who happened to be one of the most powerful people in the world. Marc and Rosebud also talk about how she found stability in her life and how she's going about rebuilding her standup act after turning out her first special.

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Even when he was a kid, B.J. Novak wanted to achieve greatness. His hard work and ambition brought him to Harvard, to the Lampoon, to doing standup, to getting on The Office, to writing a massively successful children's book, to directing movies and creating the new anthology series The Premise. But one thing remained elusive: B.J. couldn't really understand why Marc Maron seemed to dislike him so much. It's a mystery Marc himself wasn't sure he could solve. Until now, in the garage, face to face.

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Franklin Leonard helped change the way movies get made in Hollywood. It's not what he expected as a young Black math wiz growing up in Georgia. But after a love affair with movies that started at Kim's Video in New York City, Franklin established The Black List, a tool that became one of the hottest commodities in show business and opened doors for people who weren't getting a shot. Franklin and Marc talk about how The Black List movies made millions, how it pushed back on conventional wisdom, and how Franklin is still paving a way for undiscovered talent.

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No one is harder on David Chase than David Chase. Even after a successful career as a screenwriter, show creator and director, after changing the face of television with The Sopranos, after putting HBO on the map as the home for prestige drama, David is still beating himself up over things that happened, things that didn't, and things that could have been. Marc talks with David about New Jersey, The Rockford Files, his early fear of directing actors, The Sopranos' ending, and going back to those characters with The Many Saints of Newark.

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Melanie Vesey has a dividing line in her life: Before and after she got shot. The before part includes being a Juilliard and Alvin Ailey trained dancer, a Stella Adler trained actor, a party girl, a person in recovery, and a co-dependent who sought chaotic relationships. The after part includes deep trauma, a crumbling career, motherhood, and a rebirth involving comedy, acting and starting her own business. It's also when she met Marc, who helps walk Melanie through the whole story.

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From October 2011, Marc's revelatory conversation with Norm Macdonald about life, comedy, gambling, death and Rodney. Norm died on September 14, 2021 at age 61.

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Tim Reid's life changed on a New Year's Eve in the 1960s when he lucked his way into a club to see a hot young comedian. That club was Mister Kelly's, that comedian was Richard Pryor and nothing has been the same for Tim since. Tim tells Marc about his segregated upbringing, how he and Tom Dressen created the first interracial comedy team, how he got out of comedy and into acting with roles like Venus Fly Trap on WKRP in Cincinnati, and why he's currently spending a lot of his time on historical preservation.

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Steve Buscemi has covered a lot of ground in New York City: standup comedy, experimental theater, independent film, even firefighting. Marc talks with Steve about his career beginnings and some of his most memorable roles. They also talk about his time as a New York City firefighter, how he joined his old Engine Company after 9/11 to aid in the recovery operation at Ground Zero, and how he's working to keep attention on the continuing health needs of firefighters with the new documentary Dust: The Lingering Legacy of 9/11.

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Marc revisits his conversation from earlier this year with actor Michael K. Williams. Michael died at age 54 on September 6, 2021.

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Sasheer Zamata doesn't have a ton of free time. She's on the Hulu series Woke, the ABC sitcom Home Economics, a voice actor, a standup, a podcast host and an ambassador for the ACLU. This all happened in the wake of her departure from Saturday Night Live, which started with a very rare public audition process that put her immediately in the spotlight. Sasheer talks with Marc about having the courage to walk away, how she and Nicole Byer are actual best friends, as the title of their podcast says, and what it means that she was “friends with Pluto” during her time working at Disney World.

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From 2015, Marc talks with actor Ed Asner about his legendary career, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, the time he played Marc's dad, and more. Ed died on August 29, 2021 at age 91.

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When Zoe Lister-Jones found herself dealing with the anxiety and uncertainty we all encountered during the pandemic, she made a movie about the end of the world. Marc talks with Zoe about how she often finds herself channeling her fears into her work, including a filmography which she calls a direct investigation of lifelong codependency. They talk about Zoe's start in acting, growing up with artists, and her experience jumping into studio filmmaking with The Craft remake.

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Billie Jean King is forever remembered as the winner of the Battle of the Sexes, but the battles she fought for equal pay and non-discrimination are still reverberating today. Billie talks with Marc about her realization at 12 years old that she needed to fight for equality, her founding of the Women's Tennis Association, and her advice for today's players. They also talk about the mental and emotional toll of sports for all athletes, which were compounded for Billie as she struggled with her sexuality and suffered from an eating disorder.

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Ever since Marc and Kimmy Gatewood said goodbye to each other and their fellow castmates on the set of GLOW, the world has been in a constant state of flux. Marc and Kimmy spend some time catching up and dive into the details of Kimmy's experience directing her first feature film, Good On Paper. They also talk about Kimmy's improv history, her studies of Samuel Beckett, her partnership with Rebekka Johnson, and their early days of podcasting as The Apple Sisters.

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Barry Jenkins is grateful that he's been able to harness the tools of filmmaking in order to tell the stories of his ancestors. Barry and Marc get into all the details of making the ten-part series The Underground Railroad and how Barry differentiates between the projects he's made with his head and the ones he's made with his gut. The also talk about Moonlight, bringing James Baldwin's words to the screen, and why it was important to have an on-set counselor for this recent undertaking.

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When Liesl Tommy got hired as a first-time feature film director to make the new Aretha Franklin movie Respect, she knew there were 100 reasons why she couldn't screw it up. Marc and Liesl talk about their experience making the film together and Liesl explains how she's no stranger to uphill battles. From growing up under apartheid in South Africa to being an outsider as an immigrant in America to making her way around the world as a theater director, Liesl's path to Respect is anything but a traditional Hollywood story.

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Marlon Wayans and Marc spent their time on the set of the movie Respect cracking each other up and that dynamic continues in the garage. It's a situation that's familiar to Marlon, growing up with nine funny siblings and hanging around legendary comedians since he was a kid. Marlon also talks about accessing his serious side in films like Requiem for a Dream and harnessing the grief over his mother's death when he got back on the stand-up stage.

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Sterlin Harjo is relishing the opportunity to depict Native lives and stories on mainstream television with his new FX comedy series Reservation Dogs. But it's not like entertainment industry was a wide open door for Indigenous filmmakers like himself. Sterlin tells Marc about the DIY beginnings of his film career, the formation of his sketch group The 1491s, his friendship with Taika Waititi, and why he feels he's standing on the shoulders of artists like Charlie Hill, Gary Farmer, Wes Studi and others.

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Tom McCarthy approaches his films like a journalist, even when he's creating a work of fiction. Just as a reporter discovers facts about their stories, Tom's years of research help him unearth truths about the characters he's creating. Tom and Marc talk about how this played out in the process of making movies like Stillwater, Spotlight and The Station Agent. They also talk about how Tom's devout Catholic parents reacted to him making a movie about the deep rot within the church.

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Marc is concerned about the erosion of critical thinking as a broad part of American society. So who better to talk criticism than a person who makes his living doing just that? A.O. Scott brings his expertise as the film and culture critic for the New York Times to this conversation about how we need to be in dialogue with culture and art amidst increasing polarization and the oppressive power of the algorithm. They talk about movies, books, comedy, comic books and all the things we benefit from looking at with a critical eye.

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Joseph Gordon-Levitt's long career in show business has left him with a keen sense of the problems caused by the constant bombardment of media and technology in our lives. Joseph tells Marc how he was able to channel some of his anxieties about how we're navigating the modern world in his new series Mr. Corman. They also talk about his life in New Zealand, growing up on the screen, and why he hopes his company HitRECord can take the edge off social media.

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Lindsey Buckingham wasn't going to let anything - from the pandemic to major heart surgery - stand in the way of finishing his new self-titled solo album. But it was in part his work on the album and the planning of a live tour that led to Lindsey being ousted from Fleetwood Mac after nearly 45 years. Lindsey and Marc talk about being part of the band's most successful lineup, his evolving relationships with his bandmates, and the creative goals he continues to work toward in his solo career. 

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Matt Damon's continuing presence and popularity in American films can be summed up in four words: He loves to act. Matt tells Marc how he made the most out of working with icons like Clint Eastwood, Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, Jack Nicholson, Denzel Washington and many more. He also talks about teaming back up with Ben Affleck for their first screenplay since Good Will Hunting and making his latest film, Stillwater, with Tom McCarthy. 

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Sovereign Syre and Marc have been friends for several years, sharing career paths in comedy, podcasting and writing. Now, as she ventures for the first time into the fraught process of pitching and selling a television pilot, Sovereign and Marc talk about her life leading up to this moment: Her painfully shy early years, her turbulent home life, her academic exceptionalism, her years lost to drug addiction, her entry into the world of adult entertainment, and the leap of faith she took to exit that world.

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Rick Rubin's love of music led him to help popularize hip-hop, rejuvenate artists' careers, and leave his mark on literally thousands of popular songs. But there was a point in his youth where Rick put music aside and focused on something else: Comedy. Rick talks with Marc about being a self-described hardcore comedy nerd and how that informs his process with the artists he produces. They also talk about Johnny Cash, Rick's love of pro wrestling, and his interviews with Paul on “McCartney 3, 2, 1.”.

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Comedian Rick Ingraham is a Comedy Store institution. But he's also the last of a system that was in place going back to the ‘70s, where young comics were baptized and raised in the rites and rituals of the Store. Rick and Marc compare their early careers trying to break into the business and become a club regular. Rick also recalls some of his memorable moments in the different eras of the Store, from when he was touring with Andrew Dice Clay to when he was breaking up fights between Joe Rogan and Carlos Mencia.

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LCD Soundsystem is one of the hippest, most beloved bands of the early 21st century, but its frontman says he's spent a lifetime being uncool and no fun. James Murphy talks with Marc about the personal and global tragedies that precipitated the founding of the band, the character traits he had to come to terms with in order to lead the band, and what he's still trying to figure out about the band today. They also talk about his aborted collaboration with David Bowie and what that taught James about himself.

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John Swab could have been a real world version of the characters from his films who are casualties of addiction and criminality. But his desire to create art and his natural talents won out and set him on the road to recovery. John tells Marc how he channeled his experiences into his films Run with the Hunted and Body Brokers while remaining a true independent filmmaker. They also talk about John's life in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the influence of Larry Clark, and their shared love of Sam Peckinpah.

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There are Hollywood tough guys and then there's Danny Trejo. No need to front when you've lived a life of crime, drugs, and prison as explicitly as Danny has. But as his new memoir highlights, Danny went from being a criminal and a drug addict to a ubiquitous actor and an inspirational force in his community. Danny and Marc talk about family secrets, toxic masculinity, Charles Manson, and tacos. And Danny's son Gilbert joins in to explain how their personal struggles became intertwined.

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There's a reason Steven Soderbergh's movies are always so unlike whatever movies he's made before. He tells Marc his goal is to take things that have worked in other contexts and turn them into something that doesn't feel like anything else. They talk about how this pertains to Steven's movies like No Sudden Move, Behind the Candelabra and the Ocean's Trilogy. They also discuss making movies on the iPhone, why his retirement didn't stick, and how Contagion holds up against the real thing.

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The pandemic forced a lot of changes on all of us, but for Quentin Tarantino, he was already undergoing a huge change right as the pandemic started: He became a first-time father. Now with the release of his first novel, the famed director talks with Marc about the shifting perspectives and priorities that come with getting older. They also talk about the death of Old Hollywood, the Manson family, and why he wouldn't use the name Tarantino if he had to start all over again. Plus, Tom Scharpling finally gives Marc what he wants in Get to Know Tom.

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If he hadn't been getting laughs as a high school basketball coach, Erik Griffin may never have gone back to comedy. He tells Marc the story of his comedy beginnings, his self-imposed exile, and his stand-up revival that got him back in the game. Erik and Marc also discuss the current environment at The Comedy Store, as everyone tries to find their footing in the aftermath of the pandemic. 

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Ellen Burstyn doesn't stop working. She's an Emmy, Oscar, and Tony winner with iconic performances in everything from The Last Picture Show and Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore to The Exorcist and Requiem for a Dream, but as Ellen tells Marc, stopping acting just isn't in the cards. They talk about the sea changes in Hollywood, her collaborations with dynamic creators like Martin Scorsese and Jackie Gleason, and her lead role in the new movie Queen Bees. Plus, Tom Scharpling is back so you can Get To Know Tom.

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David Hidalgo has been making music and touring the world with his bandmates in Los Lobos for almost 50 years. From their start playing in schools, in restaurants and at weddings to their crossover into the LA music scene, David tells Marc how Los Lobos became a quintessential American rock band, with influences and techniques as diverse as Los Angeles itself. They also talk about the new Los Lobos album, Native Sons, which pays tribute to other LA-based artists. Plus, Tom Scharpling stops by so you can get to know him better.

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Anthony Carrigan set out to become an actor despite growing up with alopecia, an autoimmune disease that causes hair loss. When he finally went completely bald while on a major network TV show, people in the business told him his career was over. Anthony talks to Marc about how that made him want to succeed even more, how he channeled his anger into his performance on the show Gotham, and how he broke through in a big way playing NoHo Hank on HBO's Barry. They also talk about his role in the new movie Fatherhood and how it's nice to just play normal dudes now. 

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Jackson Browne is one of the most prolific singer-songwriters in modern music. He talks to Marc about how a lot of his aptitude comes from his enjoyment of being a solitary player. But that doesn't mean Jackson doesn't have stories about his career collaborations. He does, going back to Nico and the Velvet Underground all the way up to his upcoming tour with James Taylor. Jackson also talks to Marc about his new album Downhill from Everywhere and what it has to do with the Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch. 

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Helen Hunt: Oscar winner, Emmy winner, filmmaker, mother, and self-proclaimed “worst celebrity in the world.” Helen sits down with Marc to talk about how, despite her many accomplishments, she was able to block out the spotlight of fame, through her own choices as well as decisions imposed upon her by the industry. They also talk about Helen's memories of working with Jack Nicholson, how Paul Reiser sold her on doing Mad About You, and how she craves being part of diverse projects like her new show Blindspotting.

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Danny Elfman did not set out to become one of the most prolific film composers in history. He was a distractible kid who couldn't focus on much of anything except music, loved jazz, loved Stravinsky, taught himself how to read, write and play music, and found himself as the frontman for the band Oingo Boingo for 16 years. But everything changed when a fan named Tim Burton came to Danny and asked if he would score a movie called Pee-Wee's Big Adventure. Danny and Marc talk about all of it, including Batman, The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Simpsons and his new solo album, which is his first in 37 years.

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William Zabka spent the ‘80s playing a variety of bullies all seemingly modeled after his star-making performance in his first movie, The Karate Kid. But by the time he was in Back to School, William grew tired of playing the same jerk again and again. He tells Marc how he expanded his life beyond the typecasting, through music, through family, through world travel, through the arduous mounting of an Oscar-nominated short. And now, with Cobra Kai, it's all come full circle, as William finally gets the chance to explore the depth and pathos of the bully who started it all, Johnny Lawrence.

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Andrew Santino and Marc didn't know much about each other, aside from both being Comedy Store regulars and comedians from different ends of a generational divide. But in this conversation, they discover the similar paths they both paved in comedy, starting out with no money and no connections, finding themselves unhappy with their early work, and preferring the life of a lone wolf to the life in a pack. Andrew also talks about being a Comedy Store comic starring in a fictional show about the early days of The Comedy Store.

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Whether he was getting booked on The Tonight Show or becoming the first standup to have a hit sitcom based on his act or finding success as a professional poker player, Gabe Kaplan says it all happened in spite of his lack of ambition. Gabe tells Marc how he really wanted to become a professional baseball player, how his athleticism served him well in Battle of the Network Stars, and how his initial years in standup were spent opening for strippers and bellydancers. They also talk about the making of Welcome Back, Kotter and how playing Las Vegas got Gabe into poker.

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Rickie Lee Jones is, first and foremost, a storyteller. She realized at a young age that she could process her feelings and tell her own story through the fiction of songs. As she tells Marc, that same impulse prompted her to write a memoir in which she could present her life story through the narrative of her extended family of vaudevillians. Rickie Lee and Marc also talk about her formative and tumultuous relationship with Tom Waits and why it's hard for her to reminisce about her early albums and the hits that made her a star.

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American audiences know Eric Bana from his complex performances in movies like Munich, Black Hawk Down and Ang Lee's Hulk. But in his native Australia, Eric got his start doing standup and sketch comedy. Eric and Marc share their respective experiences of the Australian comedy scene and Eric explains how his gift for mimicry and impressions helped him transition from sketch to dramatic acting. They also talk about Eric's new movie The Dry, why the demise of movie theaters is greatly exaggerated, and why Australian actors are rarely allowed to play Australians.

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Kristin Hersh needs to make music. Whether it's with her bands Throwing Muses and 50FOOTWAVE or in her solo albums, making music is a compulsion. But she only recently figured out that music was her way of managing trauma. Kristin tells Marc about a life changing car accident, her dissociative disorder, PTSD, “switching,” and how processing all of this helped her understand the music she'd been hearing in her head all her life. They also talk about her new book, Seeing Sideways, which deals with Kristin raising four children on a tour bus.

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Steve Miller didn't expect to become a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer with hit songs that stand the test of time, like The Joker and Fly Like An Eagle. He was just a kid from Wisconsin who loved the Blues and wound up with teachers like T-Bone Walker and his godfather Les Paul. Steve tells Marc how he got his first breaks in clubs run by the Chicago Mafia, how he learned an important lesson from Paul McCartney, and how he discovered a lost 1977 concert performance which he's finally releasing. 

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Mark Normand is relieved to get back to the comedy clubs after a year of doing outdoor shows and other compromised sets during the pandemic. But Mark never considered stopping because comedy is something he has to do. Maybe it goes back to growing up feeling like an outsider in his own family of overachievers, or maybe it's how he coped with childhood anxieties like bedwetting, or maybe it has to do with being a victim of crime at several points in his life. He tries to get to the bottom of it with Marc while they also reminisce about the New York comedy scene and the fight-or-flight impulses they have as comedians.

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Nancy Wilson is one of the world's great guitarists, a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, and creator, along with her sister Ann, of one of the great American rock bands, Heart. But after more than 40 years in the business, she's finally releasing her first solo album. Nancy tells Marc what led up to it, from opening for big rock acts to writing massive radio hits to headlining giant arena rock shows all over the world. Nancy explains how things got messy within Heart when romantic relationships cropped up and she details how they were able to navigate the cocaine-fueled ‘80s to score some of their biggest hits ever.

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Robert Smigel became best known for having a foul-mouthed dog puppet on his hand, but the truth is he's a defining force in popular comedy for the past 35 years. Robert tells Marc how he was on the path to becoming a dentist until a stand-up comedy competition changed his life. From there it was on to SNL where he forged relationships with people like Conan O'Brien and Adam Sandler, collaborating over the next decade to change the comedy landscape. Robert also explains the origin of Triumph and why he's gone back to puppets with his new show Let's Get Real. 

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Richard Kind knows his face is memorable, but he still thinks he uses it too much. He knows his characters often exude warmth and joy, even though he is personally powered by dread and anxiety. He wants to be more like George Bailey, but worries he's closer to Willy Loman. Maybe this is why Richard and Marc connect so easily. They also talk about Richard being a part of the Coen Brothers' legacy, his friendship with George Clooney, and how he did most of his acting training in front of the camera.

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On the day this episode is released, John Waters is celebrating his 75th birthday. But he's still doing the same things that brought him cultural notoriety when he started making movies in the ‘60s: Celebrating filth, fighting censorship, and breaking any rule you can think up. John and Marc talk about those early movies like Pink Flamingos, as well as John's relationship with Divine. John also tells Marc why Hairspray was the most transgressive movie he ever made, why he prays to Pasolini, and what is the only thing he regrets in his life. 

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Tom Jones doesn't feel like resting on his laurels. He tells Marc there's one main reason he's going strong, recording new music and performing live at the age of 80: Because he still has a point to prove. Tom and Marc talk about his big hits like It's Not Unusual, Delilah, and What's New Pussycat?, how he learned to belt them out by listening to gospel music, and the secret weapon he calls The Push. They also discuss his friendship with Elvis, his musical heroes, and his new album Surrounded by Time.

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Yo-Yo Ma remembers a moment in his childhood where it all began to make sense. As a seven-year-old prodigy, he was playing cello in front of an audience that included two U.S. Presidents. But it was an act of kindness and respect from the actor Danny Kaye that helped Yo-Yo look at the world in a different way. He also tells Marc how he found the meaning of art and culture in the Kalahari, why he developed a friendship with Mr. Rogers, and why he chose the title “Beginner's Mind” for his new musical narrative project for Audible.

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Sally Struthers is thinking a lot about the passage of time these days. For one, this year is the 50th anniversary of All In The Family premiering on CBS. She's also thinking that so many people she worked with in movies like Five Easy Pieces and The Getaway are no longer with us. And she's thinking about how all this downtime from the pandemic is keeping her from doing what she loves: touring the country in stage productions. Sally talks with Marc about how time catches up with all of us, but also how she can look back fondly and with gratitude on what has passed. 

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Katey Sagal is known by the public in ways she doesn't see herself. She's known as an actor, but always thought of herself primarily as a singer. She's known as a seminal comedic TV character, even though she didn't think of herself as funny. She's defined by brash, confrontational roles, but sees herself as reserved, even shy. Katey and Marc talk about these contradictions and how they played out in public - on Married... with Children, Sons of Anarchy, her new show Rebel - and in private - in relationships, career stall-outs and struggles with substance abuse.

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Marc only knew Hunter Biden from what he saw in the news. He never heard him speak, he had no sense of who he really was, and he wasn't sure he cared much about the troubled son of a President. Then he read Hunter Biden's book. The sad, tragic, honest, disturbing and concerning story at the heart of the real Hunter Biden made Marc want to talk with him, face to face. Hunter and Marc have a conversation about grief, desperation, tragedy, trouble and deep drug addiction. It ends up in a good place, but that place is fragile. 

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Daniel Kaluuya doesn't want to stop the journey. Getting nominated for Oscars, winning a Golden Globe, hosting Saturday Night Live. These are moments within the journey, but he doesn't want any of them to feel bigger than the journey itself. Daniel and Marc talk about this life perspective, how he draws a lot of it from his family in London and Uganda, and how he incorporated it into his portrayal of Black Panther Chairman Fred Hampton in Judas and the Black Messiah. They also talk about Sicario, Get Out and his improv days.

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Writer-director Azazel Jacobs was born into the world of experimental film. But it was a combination of comic books, old radio shows, Mad Magazine and The Clash that helped him develop the sensibility he would later put on screen. Aza tells Marc how his parents passed along a love of art and a compulsion to create, why he believes the name they chose for him limited his professional options, and how he found out a world existed between Hollywood and the kind of films his father made. They also talk about Aza's latest film, French Exit.

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Eddie Huang has been fighting for things his whole life. Whether fighting for respect from a culture that is unwelcoming, or fighting for normalcy amidst a chaotic upbringing, or fighting for approval from his immigrant parents, all his achievements came with a cost. Now, with the first movie he wrote and directed under his belt, Eddie tells Marc why the film Boogie represents a collection of everything he's had to fight for. They also talk about his struggles with having his memoir Fresh Off The Boat adapted for TV and why Lynn Shelton was integral to him becoming a director. 

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Christopher Lloyd has a career spanning more than 60 years on stage, TV and film. But Marc was enamored with stories about the first movie Christopher ever made, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. Christopher tells Marc about the unique audition process, how they slept overnight in the institution, what it was like working with his idol at the time, Jack Nicholson, and more. They also talk about the first movie Christopher almost made, shooting lots of guns in the new movie Nobody, and what he considers to be the true legacy of Back to the Future. 

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Serj Tankian from System of a Down says he is dedicated to the truth in a very naive way. That basic need to tell the truth and be honest with himself comes through in his art, his activism and his personal life, all of which are depicted in the new documentary Truth to Power. Serj and Marc talk about how so much of Serj's life has been dedicated to telling the story of the Armenian genocide and how that mission informs his activism around the struggles in present day Armenia, as well as other human rights efforts around the world. 

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Laraine Newman titled her memoir May You Live in Interesting Times, a phrase many people believe to be a curse. But Laraine thinks it's an appropriate framework for her life and career. She tells Marc what it was like to be a part of culture-changing comedy institutions as a founding member of both The Groundlings and Saturday Night Live. They also talk about her prolific career as a voiceover artist in animation which also began on serendipitous terms.

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Hugh Grant thinks he's only getting better as an actor now. The work he's done for the past few years feels real to him, as opposed to felling like he was faking it when he made all those romantic comedies. Hugh and Marc talk about that realization and what happened in his life to make him finally feel less insecure as an actor. They also discuss his early comedy troupe, his recent habit of playing scoundrels and villains, and his mission to push back against the violating behavior of the British tabloids.

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In order for Eddie Murphy to become “Eddie Murphy” he had to become a comedian. Eddie tells Marc, comic-to-comic, what it was like being a Black teenager on Long Island building a standup act fueled by impressions and inspired by Richard Pryor. And now, with fatherhood at the center of his life, Eddie explains why he wants to bookend his career by going back on stage. Eddie also talks about the real reason he exploded on the movie scene, why he stopped doing standup before he turned 30, and why it was finally the right time to make Coming 2 America.

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Jake Gyllenhaal knows he has a great job as a celebrated film actor. But the thing that brings him true joy is bursting into song as part of a stage musical. Jake talks with Marc about his love of theater, which ended up landing him three Tony Award nominations this year, one for acting and two for producing. They also get into why Broadway needs to evolve when it returns, why Jake was in awe of Heath Ledger, and why he was completely surprised by Marc after this episode started.

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Tim Allen has embodied enough different personas - Tim Taylor, Mike Baxter, Buzz Lightyear, Santa Claus - that he often doesn't know which guy he actually is. But at least he's no longer the directionless young man who made bad choices and ran afoul of the law. Tim tells Marc how he cleaned up his act and made it as a club comic before breaking out with one of the most popular sitcoms in network history. They also talk about how Tim's emotions are running high as Last Man Standing comes to an end and why his new competition show, Assembly Required, is surprisingly out of his comfort zone.

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Michael K. Williams knows that a lot of people consider his character, Omar Little, to be the best character on The Wire. But he has a different opinion about the show's best character. Michael tells Marc about how he brought his struggles as an addict to his performance, how he relapsed while making the show, and how the cast gave him the support he needed to get clean. They also talk about Michael's scar and how it helped him land his first acting job, why he loves Rachael Ray so much, and why his role in the movie Body Brokers was so personal to him.

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Melissa Leo's acting style is a combination of gut instincts and a compulsive need to ask questions. It's a style that already earned her an Oscar and continual employment, but also keeps her from falling into the trap of business-as-usual. Melissa and Marc talk about her performances in movies like Frozen River The Fighter and the new film Body Brokers, how she played a character not unlike Mitzi Shore for the series I'm Dying Up Here, and what is the one type of part she refuses to play, even though she gets offers to play it over and over again.

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Sam Neill never had any ambitions as an actor, which is not true about his ambitions as a wine maker. Speaking to Marc from one of his vineyards in New Zealand, Sam talks about how he's still striving to make the greatest bottle of wine as he lives a sort of double-life as a very familiar face on screens big and small. They also discuss Sam's ideal music festival, their shared love of Randy Newman, the therapeutic reason Sam started acting in the first place, his new movie Rams, and his own ram named Jeff Goldblum.

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Jodie Foster came out on the other side of being a child actor as a two-time Oscar winner, a celebrated director, a producer and someone who is content with her life. She tells Marc how she did it, which has a lot to do with her mother and establishing boundaries. They also talk about how Taxi Driver changed her conception of acting, the great lesson she learned playing Nell, why she loves David Fincher, and why she maintains strong relationships with a lot of her co-workers.

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Mark Harris is a writer, journalist, critic and lover of film, which is why Marc wanted to talk with him. After months of at-home movie watching, Marc is convinced that artistic appreciation and critical thinking around film is more important than ever. Mark Harris has devoted a large chunk of his life to doing that kind of work, including his books on Hollywood after World War II, filmmaking in the late 1960s, and his new biography about Mike Nichols. They also talk about censorship fights, pandemic award shows and being married to Tony Kushner.

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Salma Hayek says she survived in Hollywood because she didn't let anger get the better of her. And she'd have good reasons to be angry, facing a barrage of sexism, discrimination, typecasting, and a general dismissiveness of her talent. Salma and Marc talk about how she stood up for herself, particularly when making the film Frida, and why Salma believes the gender imbalance in the industry is changing. They also talk about her new movie Bliss which depicts a false reality that feels uncomfortably relevant.

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Stanley Tucci is fortunate that he broke into the mainstream with his movie Big Night because it combined two of the things he loves the most: acting and food. Stanley talks with Marc about the comfort he gets from cooking and the satisfaction he gets from a good performance. They discuss his extensive career, including The Devil Wears Prada, Spotlight, Murder One, and his new film Supernova, in which his longtime friendship with Colin Firth paid off.

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David Duchovny knows you know him from The X-Files. He knows you know him from Californication. But that's not going to stop him from wanting to be taken seriously as a novelist and a recording artist. David and Marc talk about his multifaceted career, his early academic pursuits, and The X-Files episode that gave him the foundation for his latest book, Truly Like Lightning. David also explains how he became friends with Garry Shandling and why they maintained such a strong connection. 

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Not unlike a lot of comedians, Marc's relationship with Rick Glassman started out with an apology. But that apology led to both of them liking each other more than they expected. Rick explains how a recent diagnosis has given him more self-awareness and prompted him to reassess the boundaries in his life. And Marc is able to relate to Rick's desire to start doing comedy as a way to control the laughter coming at you. They also talk about Rick's time on the show Undateable and his own podcast, Take Your Shoes Off, which is more than a name, it's a way of life.

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For a guy who's been working at the top of the comedy scene since the 1970s, George Wallace has held a lot of other identities too. He was a computer engineer, a rag salesmen, an ad executive, and a real estate investor. Even within the comedy world, George kept an eclectic profile, working with musical acts like Tom Jones, operating a Vegas showcase for himself, and finding newfound popularity with his Twitter feed. George also tells Marc about his enduring friendship with Jerry Seinfeld.

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From 2013, Marc talks with talk show icon Larry King about his start in the business, how he got over being nervous on the mic, and the interview subjects who left the biggest impression on him. Larry died on January 23, 2021 at age 87.

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When Marc first met Andy Zaltzman, Andy was in his element at the Edinburgh Fringe. They talk about why the festival circuit was important for Andy and other comics working their way up in the UK. They also talk about Andy's podcast The Bugle, which he started with John Oliver, his new career paths as a cricket statistician and a quiz show host, and the strange confluence of Covid and Brexit. Plus Marc and Andy consider what the world will be like when they can return to standup.

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There's a good chance Daniel Lanois is responsible for some of your favorite music ever and it's all thanks to a penny whistle he bought with his allowance when he was growing up in Canada. Daniel tells Marc about his time working with Gospel choirs and doing experimental music with Brian Eno which led to him producing some of the biggest albums of all time, like U2's The Joshua Tree and Peter Gabriel's So. They also talk about Daniel's work with Bob Dylan, Robbie Robertson, Neil Young and more, as well as his solo work and his uncompromising personal standards.

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Kate Winslet is all about learning on the job. She never trained to be an actor, she just observed her talented co-stars on set. She used her work in Contagion to prepare herself and her family at the onset of the COVID pandemic. And she learned that global fame wasn't something she wanted after the success of Titanic. Now, with her new film Ammonite, she learned how to tell a universal love story that does away with heteronormative storytelling. Also, Kate tells Marc about reuniting with James Cameron for the next Avatar movies.

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Nicole Kidman keeps going for a very simple reason: She feels like her job helps her understand the meaning of life. After winning pretty all the major film and television acting awards, after being one of the world's biggest movie stars, and after becoming a major producer, Nicole says she's still working because it allows her to explore what makes humans the way they are. Marc talks with Nicole about those explorations, including Eyes Wide Shut, To Die For, Big Little Lies, Destroyer, The Undoing and more. There's also a cameo appearance by Keith Urban. 

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Thundercat thinks bass players run the world and not just because he's a great one. The multi-talented singer-songwriter talks with Marc about growing up with music all around him, learning at the feet of his brother and his friends Kamasi Washington and Cameron Graves, and finding his own sound on the bass. They also talk about his work with Kendrick Lamar on To Pimp A Butterfly and Thundercat describes the three areas around which he has structured his life: music, Marvel and anime.

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Mandy Patinkin is a renowned star of stage and screen, beloved for his roles in The Princess Bride and Homeland, admired for his mellifluous voice and impressive vocal range. But Mandy and Marc barely talk about any of that. Instead, they get deep into a discussion about life, death, love, religion, the Holocaust, depression, suicide, self-doubt, insecurity, and the meaning of this whole thing we're all going through. And believe it or not, they find some answers! It's the perfect talk for a new year as we head into the unknown.

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David Ritz is one of the most prolific biographers of music industry titans, writing about the lives of artists from BB King to Willie Nelson to Janet Jackson. David tells Marc about his obsessive pursuit of Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye and Aretha Franklin and how chronicling their lives changed his. He also explains why he often enjoys ghost writing for a musician more than writing in his own voice. Plus, David talks with Marc about finding faith through the Blues and writing his own story for a change.

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Patty Jenkins's connection to superheroes runs deep. Long before she became the first woman to direct a major superhero film, Patty was relying on Superman to help her process the loss of her father. Marc talks with Patty about how she was intrigued by the romance of tragedy, as filtered through the type of mythic storytelling depicted in her two Wonder Woman movies. They also talk about her time as a punk rocker, her years working the camera on hip-hop videos, and how the Beatniks are responsible for her entry into the film business. 

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Sam Tallent felt compelled to write a book about the guy he was afraid to turn into. As a comedian plying his trade on the road, Sam did enough one-nighters and heard enough horror stories from other comics to know there's a path to ruin while going from club to club. Marc is also familiar with that path, which is why he connected so strongly with Sam's book, Running the Light. Marc and Sam talk about the book's fictional (but all-too-real) protagonist Billy Ray Shafer, as well as the actual rogues and borderline criminals they've met in their industry. Sam also explains what it was like to bet on himself and publish the book on his own. 

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Andrew Bird's music defies categorization, so much so that he's not even sure how to categorize it himself. Andrew walks Marc through the process by which he developed his sound, from youthful obsessions with classical music and jazz to his days on the road doing Old-Time music in bars to the period of isolation and deprivation he put himself through in order to experience a musical breakthrough. They also talk about his love of whistling, which he did in a recent Muppet movie. Also, Andrew plays a song from his new holiday album Hark!

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Bootsy Collins is one of the world's preeminent practitioners of The Funk, although that might not be the case if he hadn't snuck his brother's guitar out of the closet when no one was around. Bootsy tells Marc about starting out with a homemade bass and graduating from the James Brown School of Hard Knocks as part of the Godfather of Soul's band. Bootsy explains how he came out of that experience and shaped his own identity in the Parliament Funkadelic Universe, thanks to the freedom provided by George Clinton, and how it all ties in to his new album, The Power of the One.

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Scott Glenn is convinced that every good thing that's ever happened to him has been an accident. That includes serving in the Marines, getting his start in acting, meeting his wife, finding religion, gaining Lee Strasberg as a mentor, moving to Idaho, and getting the part in Apocalypse Now that kickstarted his confidence as an actor. Scott tells Marc about the serendipitous circumstances behind those moments in his life, as well as stories from the sets of The Right Stuff, Nashville, Urban Cowboy and Training Day. 

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The first time Brad Williams got on a stand-up stage, he was just an audience member. Brought up on stage by a comedian who was telling little people jokes, Brad realized the power that comes with making people laugh on his own terms. Marc talks with Brad about what it's like doing comedy as a little person, how other little people have responded to his act, how he feels about language that's deemed inappropriate, and why he credits his dad for his ability to tell jokes. They also talk about Brad being a new father and the range of emotions he had about raising a little person.

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Zach Braff and Marc both dealt with a lot of loss in the past year. For Zach, keeping it all in perspective is helping him get through the daily stress of pandemic life, as he fires up his creative impulses. Zach and Marc talk about the struggle of saying goodbye to beloved pets, the trauma of losing someone close to you, and managing childhood anxiety later in life. They also discuss Zach's past projects like Scrubs and Garden State, as well as his new podcast and his upcoming movie with Robert De Niro, The Comeback Trail.

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John Densmore was the drummer for one of the most influential bands of the ‘60s, The Doors, but he's always been on a quest to find truth through art and creativity. John explains to Marc that his love of jazz inspired a lot of the rock and roll he made and his latest book is an attempt to discover the inspirations of other artists. They also talk about how the drug scene spelled the end of the good times in 1960s Los Angeles, why he went to the mat against his bandmates over licensing The Doors music for commercials, and what Jim Morrison is like these days when he appears in John's dreams.

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It may not surprise you that James Caan has been in a few fights. He also played football, boxed and was in rodeo competitions, among other “non-Jewish activities,” as he calls them. James and Marc talk about how he turned his rough and tumble life into an acting career and how the same instincts that served him in competition helped him create memorable performances. They also talk about Robert Duvall, John Wayne, Misery, Thief, The Godfather, and the unexpected person who helped him create Sonny Corelone. 

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Mike Campbell was more than Tom Petty's bandmate. He was more than a friend, too. He was a partner who had an almost telepathic writing relationship with his famed frontman. Mike talks with Marc about crafting so many of those Petty hits, how they developed the Heartbreakers sound, what song he played that made Tom put him in the band, and why he wants to keep playing guitar and writing music into his 70s. 

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Johnny Flynn and Marc already developed a rapport while they were road-tripping through Canada. They were playing David Bowie and Bowie's publicist at the time, but they still got to enjoy each other's company. Now they get to converse just as themselves, as they talk about the movie they made together, Stardust, as well as Johnny's personal journey from a fishing boat to acting school to rock bands and record contracts. Johnny also brings up a bit of advice Marc gave him when they were on the road that changed the way he looked at his life.

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Michael J. Fox didn't intend to be an inspiration but he's glad he can help out. As Marc learned from talking with him, Michael maintains a perspective on life filled with gratitude and optimism as he lives with the effects of Parkinson's disease. Recently, after a run of health setbacks, that perspective faltered. But Michael tells Marc how he got back on track, how he maintains strong bonds with his wife and children, how he felt about giving up show business for a second time, and what he realized about mortality while spending several months on the couch watching re-runs.

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It took Glenn Close a long time to open up about some aspects of her past. Shame was stubbornly in the way. But Glenn tells Marc she was able to discover her inner rebel and push past that shame, many years after she already became famous for finding the buried emotions of complicated characters. They talk about Glenn's personal evolution, as well as the mark she left with her performances in The Big Chill, Fatal Attraction, Sunset Boulevard, 101 Dalmatians, and her latest film Hillbilly Elegy. 

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Better Call Saul features characters who are not honest about their lives and identities, so it's appropriate that one of the show's stars, Rhea Seehorn, suffers from imposter syndrome in real life. Rhea and Marc compare notes on why they both feel insecure and inadequate despite their natural talents, such as Rhea's skills at painting, sculpting and building. They also talk about her father's secretive life in the Naval Intelligence Services, the perils of pilot season, and why Bob Odenkirk is so hard on himself.

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Mel Brooks once told Frank Langella, “Nobody would believe you're from Bayonne. You look like a prince without a country.” But whether he's playing Dracula or Richard Nixon or King Lear, Frank is still a Jersey Boy at heart. Marc asks Frank about that upbringing across the Hudson and how being an introverted, sensitive middle child led him to a life of transforming into larger than life characters. They also talk about an amazing gift Frank was given by Ron Howard, the line of dialogue from the movie Dave that is his favorite in his entire career, and his performance in The Trial of the Chicago 7.

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With the world still wondering what this year's Presidential election really means, it's the right time for Marc to talk with actor and playwright Heidi Schreck, who knows a thing or two about power structures and why they don't serve everyone equally. They talk about Heidi's acclaimed Broadway show, What The Constitution Means To Me, and how her recognition of generational trauma in her family prompted her to write a show about unequal rights and the people who help stack the deck. They also talk about her time living in Russia, how she started a writing career in her 40s, and her newborn twins.

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David Cross is one of Marc's oldest friends in show business. And right now is a good time for them to catch up, as David balances his life as the dad to a three-year-old with the demands of going back to work on film and television sets during the pandemic. David explains to Marc how he was feeling more antisocial even before COVID-19 hit, why he wanted to become a dad late in life, and what he had to physically endure while making his new movie, The Dark Divide. Marc and David also compare notes after both of them played Jerry Wexler for dueling Aretha Franklin projects.

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If comedy equals tragedy plus time, comedian Melinda Hill has reached the point where she can make some funny out of the traumas from her past. Melinda and Marc talk about processing the pain, particularly dealing with parents suffering from mental illness. They also talk about Melinda's trajectory in the comedy business, starting with success in voiceovers to her influential LA stand-up showcase What's Up, Tiger Lily? to her acting, writing and podcasting ventures. Plus, Melinda talks about the connection she has with Marc's past, something that requires a bit of processing on Marc's end.

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When Hari Kondabolu was a college student, he interviewed Marc for a research paper about standup comedy. Twenty years later, they're talking to each other as peers whose lives have changed considerably in the past two decades. With a newborn baby, a recent Netflix special, and a documentary about Apu from The Simpsons that spurred a global conversation about representation in pop culture, Hari gets Marc up to speed on where his life is at right now. He also explains how he developed his comedy career while engaging in human rights work and immigration activism. 

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These are appropriate times for reflection and Matthew McConaughey just went through the process of reflecting on his whole life while writing his memoir, Greenlights. Marc talks with Matthew about the revelations he encountered, the perspective he gained, and the philosophies he was able to codify in the process. They go through Matthew's upbringing in Austin, his first movie role in Dazed and Confused, his launch into superstardom, his self-imposed hiatus, and his career rebirth that saw him win an Oscar. Matthew also explains how an ad lib changed his life and why pressed jeans helped him understand how to take control of his destiny.

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Patti Smith has been at the vanguard of art, poetry, rock and roll, and other forms of self-expression since the 1960s. But this talk with Marc happens to be her very first one-on-one conversation done over Zoom. They talk about Patti's days living at the Hotel Chelsea, carrying on the legacy of the Beat Generation, and forming life-changing relationships with William Borroughs, Sam Shepard, Allen Ginsberg, and Bob Dylan, among others. Patti also recalls the most mortifying live performance moment of her career, which happened for all the world to see.

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Everyone needs to let off some steam these days and there are few people better who do it better than Lewis Black. Marc welcomes his old friend back to the show for a talk about pandemic comedy, going stir crazy during quarantine, avoiding cults and pulling for democracy to make it through these times. They also talk about Lewis's new standup special, Thanks for Risking Your Life, which was filmed the day before the country shut down. 

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Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne was in Los Angeles and decided to stop by the garage for a rare pandemic-era in-person chat. It's been a long time since Wayne and Marc hung out last. Since then both dealt with deaths of people close to them and they talk about how processing those losses gave them perspective on what we're all living through. Wayne also talks about being a new dad in his late 50s, how an epiphany while working at Long John Silver's changed his personal trajectory, and why he considers himself to be on his third life.

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Wynton Marsalis created a profound examination of America, race, class, politics and human impulses with his latest epic composition, The Ever Fonky Lowdown. He explains to Marc how his perspective for the piece was largely aided by his fear of flying. Wynton's worldview was also shaped by watching his dad play jazz to limited audiences, realizing what it meant to play solely because you believe in the music.They also talk about Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman, Herbie Hancock and Wynton's work with Jazz at Lincoln Center.

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John Cusack is always trying to stay engaged with the world. From a young age when activist priests used to visit his parents to the Reagan years when he underwent a political awakening to present day, John uses his perception of how the world works as a way to build the characters he plays. That comes in handy in the new series Utopia, where John plays an evil billionaire. John also tells Marc what it was like to play Brian Wilson while working with Brian Wilson, how Being John Malkovich got made, and why Danny Trejo told the world that out of all the tough guys on the set of Con Air, John was the baddest mother of all. 

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Barbara Kopple is known for her acclaimed documentary films, but for Marc the most memorable time Barbara spent behind the camera is the day she directed him in a phone commercial. Marc and Barbara reminisce about how that happened and talk about her entry portal into documentaries working with the Maysels Brothers on Salesmen and Gimme Shelter. They also discuss Barbara's Oscar-winning film Harlan County, USA, how Bruce Springsteen saved one of her early movies, and how she got Jimmy Carter to open up about the Iran hostage crisis for her latest doc, Desert One.

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The adage “you can never go home again” didn't apply to Cecily Strong. She did, and it's what got her on Saturday Night Live. Cecily tells Marc why she didn't stick around in Los Angeles after studying acting at CalArts, a move that people told her was a mistake. They also talk about why she got kicked out of her high school, how she battles her depression, what it was like to perform for the Obamas, and why she was in a Chinese opera with Alison Brie. 

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Barry Levinson finds himself waking up in disbelief to every outlandish and shocking item in the day's news. It's a different mode for a filmmaker who spent his career focused on the natural, quiet moments that make up everyday life. Marc and Barry talk about his beginnings at a Washington, DC television station, his early comedy writing that landed him at The Comedy Store, The Carrol Burnett Show, and with Mel Brooks, and his breakout movies like Diner, The Natural and Rain Man. They also contemplate whether American Democracy can survive, which is the subject of the new doc Barry produced, Stars and Strife.

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It's a New York City doubleheader! First up, Marc talks with the woman behind the modern day New York anthem, Alicia Keys. On the release of her seventh studio album, Alicia looks back on what it was like to start a huge music career so young and how she had to finally meet her monster in order to come into her own. Then Marc talks to John Leguizamo about his defining one-man shows, his relationship with other New York City artists, and his new movie Critical Thinking, which is the first feature film John directed.

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Wendell Pierce isn't doing a lot of acting during the pandemic, but he's keeping busy. He's spending more time with his 95-year-old father in New Orleans, he's hosting radio shows on a local station he bought, and he's helping to figure out the future of live theater. Wendell and Marc talk about his time on The Wire and the unique way he experienced that show. They also discuss what he learned playing Willy Loman last year and how Led Zeppelin and jazz helped him become a better actor.

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Toni Collette might be the first actor to tell Marc that, yes, she does learn about herself through the characters she plays. That's a lot of learning, considering the wide range of characters Toni has played over the years. Toni and Marc talk about how she grew into herself while starring in movies like Muriel's Wedding, The Sixth Sense, Hereditary and now in Charlie Kaufman's latest, I'm Thinking of Ending Things, a movie that left Marc asking a lot of questions (which he'll try to get Toni to answer).

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Even in the face this year, Martin Short remains an optimistic guy. Maybe it's because he's had a career he loves, or maybe it's his mild-mannered Canadian disposition, or maybe it's because he suffered through a lot of tragedy as a kid. Martin and Marc try to figure it out, and they also talk about his live shows with Steve Martin, the difference between doing SCTV and SNL, why Martin considers 80% of his career to be a failure, and why believes that a 20% success rate is high for a career in show business. 

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One year ago, Marc used the Labor Day episode of WTF to find out why so much bad stuff in the world gets birthed in the darkest corners of the internet. A year later, it's only gotten worse. Marc talks with comic artist Matt Furie about how his creation, Pepe the Frog, was appropriated by online racists and Nazis, and Arthur Jones explains why he made a documentary about Matt's quest to reclaim Pepe. Also, Andrew Marantz from The New Yorker joins Marc to help draw the line from Pepe to QAnon and other fanatical online behavior.

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J.K. Simmons faced a tough balancing act when his lifelong nonchalance about awards for acting came up against him becoming the runaway favorite to win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. J.K. and Marc talk about how he reconciled that contradiction with help from Jason Reitman and how his late-blooming Hollywood career helped him maintain perspective. They also talk about his time on stage in Seattle, Broadway and regional theaters across the country, his fear of being typecast when he was on Oz, and the big shift that happened when he made Juno.

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Chelsea Peretti joined Marc in the garage more than ten years ago on a very early episode of WTF. Since then she became a writer for Parks and Rec, played Gina on Brooklyn 99, got married to Jordan Peele, and became a mom. Now she's catching up with Marc about coffee, creative satisfaction, overcoming her fear of commitment, raising a toddler while sheltering at home, and the coping strategies of the pandemic era. They also talk about her first lead role in the new movie Spinster.

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It's been 20 years since Marc demanded that someone “lock the gates” on Billy Crudup and the rest of the band in Almost Famous. Now that both of them are older and wiser, Billy and Marc discuss the simultaneous drudgery and privilege of acting. They also talk about why Billy often opted for roles in the theater over roles in movies, why he thinks he wasn't destined to be a Hollywood leading man, and how he's settled into a career as a character actor by virtue of only taking the parts he finds interesting.

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Whether it's Gus from Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul or Buggin' Out from Do The Right Thing or Moff Gideon from The Mandalorian, Giancarlo Esposito's characters always leave an indelible impression. Perhaps that's because Giancarlo spent a lot of his life reflecting on his own character and where he belonged. He talks with Marc about growing up as the son of an Italian carpenter and a Black nightclub singer, trying to figure out where he fit in. They also talk about life lessons Giancarlo received from George C. Scott and Spike Lee.

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A lot is going on for Kieran Culkin right now. He's a new dad, he has an Emmy nomination, he's dealing with life during the pandemic like the rest of us. But chaos is familiar to Kieran, who grew up in a railroad apartment with six brothers and sisters, all of whom were pushed toward show business by their father. Kieran and Marc talk about that childhood environment, why Kieran and his brothers love pro wrestling, and how he established himself as an actor, including in his role as Roman Roy on Succession.

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